_A_ . M. r>. a. 



A TREATISE 



gfspoitacg in % f mmt of 




FOLLOWED BY ONE ON 

(temptations. 

BY 

Key. P. J. MICHEL, 

OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS. 

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH, 



BY 

Key. F. P. GARESCHE, 

OF THE SAME SOCIETY. 



CINCINNATI : 
JOHN P. WALSH. 
1865. 



\ 

.M65 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by 
JOHN P. WALSH, 
In the Clerk's office of the District Court of the United States 
for the Southern District of Ohio. 



LC Control Number 




tmp96 029053 



INDEX. 



DISCOURAGEMENT OR DESPONDENCY. 

PAGE 



Chapter I. On the dangers and fatal effects of De- 
spondency 1 

u II. The most fatal effect of Despondency is, that 
the soul that yields to it, does not view 
it as a temptation. Hope and confidence 
in God, are as much a commandment as 
Faith, and the other virtues 2 

" III. Source and cause of the impressions which 
Despondency makes on the soul of the 
Christian 5 

u IV. Of the true motive for Christian hope ; this 

motive is the same for all men... 7 

u V. A powerful motive for confidence is the in- 
finite value of the sufferings and merits of 
Jesus Christ 11 

u VI. Motive of confidence for the religious soul, 
in the mercy which God has shown 
in selecting her for the grace of her vo- 
cation. False ideas and feelings which we 
ascribe to God 15 

H VII. Our reiterated infidelities ought not to 
make us lose confidence in God. It is the 
want of Faith which makes us fear 19 

u VIII. God is never so near to us, to assist us in 
our conflicts, as when we imagine Him 
far away. He hides Himself only that 

we may geek Him and find Him 21 

(iii) 



IV 



INDEX. 



PAGE 



Chapter IX. We can not conquer without fighting, and 

there is no fighting without trouble 23 

" X. It is tempting God, and tempting one's 
self to be solicitous about the conflicts 
that may await us 30 

u XI. Of weariness, disgust and difficulties in the 
service of God — causes of a discourage- 
ment contrary to reason 33 

" XII. It is not well to ask God to put an end to 



our trials and difficulties — and to desire 
the immediate fulfilment of our prayers. 38 

u XIII. We would wish the Almighty to do all for 
us, and to give us the victory, without its 
costing us anything : a pernicious error, 
an unfair request, and a common cause 
of discouragement 43 

u XIV. Discouragement occurs because we will 
not profit by the ordinary aid which is 
within our reach, but through a sloth- 
ful feeling wait for extraordinary graces. 46 

w XV. It is false and dangerous, to think that we 
can do nothing to resist certain inclina- 



tions and habits which overcome us 52 

u XVI. Our spiritual exercises a cause of despond- 
ency, because we falsely think them 
useless, or the occasions of new faults... 57 

« XVII. Imperfect motives, joining themselves to 
an intention otherwise pure, are another 
source of discouragement 66 

" XVIII. It is an error to suppose that we should 
not offer our actions to God, because 
they have not that perfection which we 
desire, or think necessary 76 

u XIX. A loss of sensible devotion — an unjustifi- 
able cause of despondency 81 



INDET. V 

PAGE 

Chapter XX. Faults committed by pious souls in time 

of desolation 84 



XXI. One of our pretexts for abandoning prayer 
is, that we lose our time. This is usually 



false, and often criminal when true. 
How to occupy ourselves usefully in 
time of prayer 90 

" XXII. To strive for sensible devotion is useless, 
often dangerous, and it gives occasion 
for despondency.... 94 

u XXIII. On the use of spiritual books during time 



of prayer, or when attending at mass.... 100 
M XXIV. What books we should use during prayer, 
and what plan we should adopt in their 
perusal 104 



TEMPTATIONS. 

PAGE,' 

Cbtaptee I. Temptations no proof of God's having 
abandoned us. If sometimes a mark of 
His anger, it is an anger tempered by 



mercy Ill 

II. Temptations no sign of a dangerous state 
of the soul, in regard to God and salva- 
tion 115 

III. In temptation recourse must be had to 
God. He sustains us in the combat, 

although we do not perceive it 117 

IY. How to recognize whether we have con- 
sented to the temptation.... 119 

V. On short and passing temptations 122 

VI. On temptations which are persistent and 
troublesome, and on those which make 
an impression on our senses 124 



INDEX. 



FAC« 

Chapter VII. On temptations which disturb us in the 
exercise of virtues. We must not aban- 
don a good work because of the defect, 
or the imperfect motive which accom- 
panies it. We must renounce the one, 
and persevere in the other 128 

u VIII. Temptations not to be reasoned with. 

Means of banishing them 131 

" IX. On frequent temptations. a In time of 

peace, prepare for war." 138 

" X. The utility of temptations 142 

u XI. The subject continued. One who is sub- 
ject to temptations, and desirous of sav- 
ing his soul, attaches himself the more 
closely to God, and exercises the greater 
vigilance. , 146 

" XII. The good effects of temptation in negli- 
gent souls 150 

u XIII. The time spent in overcoming temptations, 

is not time lost. 153 



0 



debitor's Irefau. 



To Pious and Devout Souls : — 

I present you this little book, confident of its value- 
it is the posthumous work of a Priest, who was not 
only member of a celebrated society, and Professor of 
Theology, but was also a pious and enlightened di- 
rector. 

In this book you will therefore find wholesome in- 
struction, great knowledge of the interior life, and of 
the human heart, — the result of years of experience in 
the direction of souls. 

The subject is at once, both highly important and 
very difficult. The Author has not confined himself to 
general principles, and vague maxims, but he has en- 
tered into the very sanctuary of the soul, into its secret 
folds and most intricate windings. The thread of 
Reason, the light of Faith and the torch of Experience, 
have led him safely through that labyrinth, where so 
many lose themselves, rashly attempting to explore it 
without the proper guides. A few principles, presented 
under different aspects, solve all difficulties, throw 
light upon doubts that are ever recurring, expose all 
the subterfuges of self-love, sloth and cowardice, refute 
their objections and silence their excuses. 

The Author has followed the most useful plan for 
works of this kind. He adopts the method of reason^ 
ing — and hi3 reasoning is as clear as it is solid. The 
greater number of persons who profess piety, prefer 
appeals to their imagination and to their heart, rather 
than to their reason. They like to be excited by lively 

(vii) 



Viii PREFACE. 

descriptions, and by tender and touching language; 
but in so doing, they are seeking a passing gratification 
rather than a real and permanent benefit. Such de- 
scriptions and sentiments soon fade away, but the fruits 
of conviction are more lasting. Pure reason and true 
Faith never vary; imagination and feeling are inces- 
santly changing according to the different objects which 
act upon them. 

It is from indolence that feeling is preferred to 
reasoning. The greater part of mankind are indolent, 
and hence there are so few who care to reflect and 
reason. But one who has an earnest love for virtue 
and duty, who is anxious about his salvation, should 
not shrink from the mental effort which the exercise of 
reason and of Faith requires. We should remember 
that no sincere and permanent resolution can be taken, 
without a conviction of its necessity. This is accord- 
ing to the natural order of reason, and to the economy 
of grace. The understanding must be enlightened be- 
fore the will can be moved. 

This work appears to be specially intended for the 
instruction of persons living in religious communities, 
and for seculars aiming at perfection: but in this age 
of indifference and discouragement, all, who profess 
the true faith may here find no little help to undeceive 
them in their errors, and to strengthen them against 
the wiles of self-love. We venture to hope that even 
Directors of consciences may discover therein, that 
which will increase their light, and supply for any 
want of experience in their difficult and dangerous 
ministry. 



A TREATISE 

ON 

DESPONDENCY 

IN THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



C I) a p 1 1 r 1 . 

ON THE DANGERS AND FATAL EFFECTS OF DESPONDENCY. 

Despondency is the most dangerous temptation 
that the enemy of our salvation can employ. In 
other temptations he attacks some one virtue in 
particular, and shews himself openly : by despond- 
ency he attacks them all, but covertly. The snare 
is readily perceived in other temptations : one finds 
in religion, often even in reason, principles which 
condemn them. The knowledge of the evil, to 
which we cannot blind ourselves, conscience, and 
the truths of religion which are awakened, serve as 
helps to sustain us. But in despondency there is 
nothing to lean upon ; we feel that reason does not 
suffice to enable us to practise all the good that 
God requires of us. On the other hand, we dare 
not hope to receive from God all the help we need, 
to overcome our passions; thus we become dis- 
couraged and nearly reduced to despair, the very 

(1) 



2 



DESPONDENCY IN 



point to which the devil tries to lead the despond 
ent soul. 

In other temptations we clearly perceive that 
it is wrong to allow the mind to dwell upon them ; 
but in despondency which disguises itself under a 
multiplicity of forms, we see strong motives for 
yielding to the feeling, which we do not look upon 
as a temptation. This feeling, however, makes us 
imagine that perseverance in the practice of virtue 
is impossible, and it leaves the soul liable to be 
overcome by all its passions. It is therefore of the 
utmost importance to avoid this snare. 



(Chapter 2 . 

THE MOST FATAL EFFECT OF DESPONDENCY IS, THAT THE SOUL 
THAT YIELDS TO IT, DOES NOT YIEVT IT AS A TEMPTATION. 
HOPE AND CONFIDENCE IN GOD, ARE AS MUCH A COMMAND- 
MENT AS FAITH, AND THE OTHER YIRTUES. 

The great danger of despondency is, that being 
deceived by an excessive fear which makes us 
blind to the truth, and being discouraged at the 
sio-ht of difficulties against which we find no re- 
source in ourselves, we nevertheless do not look 
upon this state as the effect of temptation. Could 
we only see it in that light, we should beware of 
the suggestions that entertain it, and should get 
rid of our trouble more quickly and more easily. 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



3 



Let it however be well understood, that de- 
spondency is- a temptation, and bears all the marks 
of being such ; for every feeling which is opposed 
to the law of God. either in itself, or by the conse- 
quences it may have, is evidently a temptation. 
It is thus we judge of every temptation to which 
we are liable. If we have a thought against Faith, 
a feeling against Charity or against some other vir- 
tue, we look upon it as a temptation : we turn away 
from it. and try to elicit acts opposed to the thought 
or feeling which has put us in danger of offending 
God. 

Xow Hope and Confidence in God are com- 
manded equally with Faith and the other virtues. 
Therefore the feeling which is opposed to Hope is 
as much forbidden, as that which is against Faith 
or any other virtue : it has thus every feature of a 
real temptation. 

The law of .God obliges us frequently to make 
acts of Faith. Hope and Charity; and hence for- 
bids us all wilful feelings contrary to these sacred 
and necessary virtues. How then can despondency 
be viewed otherwise than as a temptation, and even 
as a very dangerous temptation, since it exposes the 
Christian soul to abandon every work of piety. 

To make this danger clearer to you, consider 
the general course of conduct among men. Is it 
rtdt the hope of success, of procuring some advant- 
age, or of avoiding some evil, or of satisfying some 
desire or some passion, which makes them act; 



4 



i 

DESPONDENCY IN 



which supports them. under their labors and ani- 
mates them to overcome their difficulties ? Take 
away from them all hope, and they would soon fall 
into inaction. None but a madman would strive 
for an object, which he despairs of obtaining. In 
religious life, despondency produces the same ef- 
fect ; it is founded on the same principle, the want 
of means to reach the end which we propose to 
ourselves. 

When we lose all hope of overcoming the diffi- 
culties which we may find in the practice of any 
virtue, we do not try, or but feebly, to make the 
effort to do so. These insufficient efforts onlv 
increase our weakness, and being more than half 
overcome by despondency, we are easily led away 
by the passion that sways us. The sight of our 
weakness first throws us into doubt and into trou- 
ble. In that state, occupied only by the difficulty 
of the combat, we do not distinguish the principles 
which ought to guide us. The fear of not succeed- 
ing prevents us from employing the means which 
God has given us, and we are thus defenseless 
against our enemy. We are like a child who, see- 
ing the approach of a Giant, begins to tremble, 
and forgets that a stone thrown in the name of the 
Lord, may lay him prostrate. In the same man- 
ner do we forget that we have a powerful help in 
the goociness of a tender Father, upon whom we 
have only to call, to be victorious in all our strug- 
gles. 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



5 



<E I) a p 1 1 x 3 . 

SOURCE AND CAUSE OF THE IMPRESSIONS "WHICH DESPONDENCY 
MAKES ON THE SOUL OF THE CHRISTIAN. 

The reason despondency makes such strong and 
fatal impressions on us, I shall now proceed to 
show. We are well convinced of our weak- 
ness, for we have often experienced it. We feel 
keenly the difficulty we have to overcome ourselves, 
as we succeed but rarely. Filled with these sad 
and discouraging reflections of our want of strength, 
and of the little we do to please God, we consider 
it useless to have recourse to Him, who, we think, 
will not hearken to our prayer, whilst we are in 
our present state ! Sad evidence of the pride of the 
human heart, which would wish to owe to itself the 
good which it does, and the happiness to which it 
aspires ! and how opposed to the words of the Holy 
Ghost: L 'What hast thou, that thou hast not re- 
ceived? " (I. Cor. iv, 7). 

In such a state we only see, and only depend 
upon our own efforts, so that our despondency 
diminishes, ceases, returns or increases, according' 
as we act well or ill. We do not reflect that it is 
only from the mercy of God we can hope for help, 
and not by our own merits ; that when we have 
done well, it is through the grace of God, which 
we have not merited, and that, in every circum- 



6 



DESPONDENCY IN 



stance, this Mercy is ever ready to dispense to us 
the necessary grace. 

When these desponding souls are told that they 
ought, after he example of the Saints, to put $11 
their confidence in God, they will at once answer, 
that it is not surprising that the Saints had confi- * 
dence in God, since they were Saints and served 
God with fidelity : but that they have not the same 
right to feel that perfect confidence in Him, 
which the Saints had. They do not perceive that 
such reasoning is contrary to the principles of true 
religion. 

Hope is a theological virtue, and its motive can 
be found only in God. These souls make it a hu- 
man virtue, when its source or motive is recognized 
in man or in his ways. The Saints did not hope 
in God, because they were faithful to God, but 
they were faithful to God because they hoped in 
Him. Otherwise the sinner could never make an 
act of hope, and yet it is that very act of hope 
which disposes him to return to God. 

Observe that St. Paul does not say : I have ob- 
tained mercy because I have been faithful, but 
Having obtained mercy of the Lord, to be faithful" 
(I. Cor. viii, 25). Mercy always precedes the 
Good which we do ; and it is from Mercy alone 
that we have the necessary grace to do any good 
at all. The Saints never counted upon their works 
to strengthen their confidence in God ; for they 
were ever mindful of the words of our Saviour : 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



u So also, ye, when ye shall have done all these things 
that have been commanded to you, say: we are un- 
profitable servants" (Luke xvii, 10). The greater 
Saints they were, the greater was their humility. 
Their humility allowed them to see only the per- 
fection to which they had not yet reached. Unlike 
the Pharisee in the Gospel, they found nothing in 
themselves to warrant their confidence, but in the 
mercy of God they sought and found a confidence, 
the foundations of which could not be shaken. 
This was what supported them, and this it is, 
which must encourage you, and re-animate your 
fainting strength. It is of the utmost importance 
for you to understand this truth, that you may not 
again fall into the snare which your enemy has so 
often laid for you. 



<E I) a j) Ur 4. 

OF THE TRUE MOTIVE FOR CHRISTIAN HOPE — THIS MOTIVE IS 
THE SAME FOR ALL MEN. 

According to religion the motive of Christian 
Hope, or of confidence in God, is the same for all 
men, Saints and sinners. 

Hope, as we have already said, is a theological 
virtue, like Faith and Charity. Its motive, then, 
can be found only in God, and can rest only, upon 



8 



DESPONDENCY IN 



divine perfection. It follows, therefore, that we 
exclude from this motive our own merits. We do 
not hope in God, because we have been faithful to 
Him, but we hope in Him, that we may obtain the 
grace to be faithful. 

On what, then, is Christian Hope founded, 
and what is its motive, according to Religion? 
Pope Benedict XIV., in his form of the Act of 
Hope, has pointed out the divine perfections which 
constitute this motive. The act is this : " Oh my 
God I hope in Thee, because Thou art faithful to 
Thy all -powerful promises, and because Thy mercies 
are infinite. 11 In this motive there is nothing hu- 
man, all is drawn from God Himself. And could 
there be a stronger motive to strengthen us in hope 
and in the confidence of God ? We here find the 
mercy of God, who is more anxious to shower His 
gifts upon man, than man is to receive them ; who 
desires their real good and their salvation, much 
more sincerely than they desire it themselves, 
since He restrains them by His grace, which of 
themselves they could not merit, and since He 
prepares for them aid proportionate to the trials to 
which He exposes them — an aid which they can 
obtain by prayer, and with it conquer the evil one, 
This mercy is so infinite, that all the malice of 
mankind cannot exhaust it ; and which, after hav- 
ing manifested itself so wonderfully in the gift 
which God has granted us, His only Son for our 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



9 



ransom, will not refuse us the assistance which He 
desires to afford us in this priceless benefit. 

The effects of this divine Mercy have been 
promised to us by the assurances which God has 
made us, of coming to our assistance, whenever we 
ask it, to work out our salvation. God, who is 
truth itself, cannot deceive us, and He is essentially 
faithful to the promises He makes His creatures. 
But we find in the Holy Scripture the most touch- 
ing exhortations to have recourse to Him in our 
necessities, with the promise that He will be our 
support and our strength. Now, then, can we have 
any anxiety or seriously entertain any fear that He 
will reject or abandon us, when we call upon Him 
with confidence? Would not this be accusing God 
of not keeping His promise ? But that would be 
blasphemy. 

It is true that to grant our prayer, God requires 
that we should call upon Him with confidence — 
but should we deserve to obtain His benefits if we 
asked them with a doubting heart ; doubting that 
very goodness of which we are experiencing the 
effect every instant of our lives, and in so many 
thousand ways? No, as the Apostle, St. James, 
says : M Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering." 
(i, 6). The heart that prays with doubt and dis- 
trust shall obtain nothing. And we also know that 
Jesus Christ whilst on earth only granted miracles 
when there was confidence : " Daughter ^ thy faith 
hath heated thee" (Matt, ix, 22). God's almighty 



10 



DESPONDENCY IN 



power gives the crowning strength to this motive 
for Christian Hope, seeing that He exceeds all that 
we can require of Him. Men often promise that, 
which it is not in their power to give, but it is not 
thus with the all-powerful God. We can find no 
insurmountable obstacles to His will, in the gifts 
which He desires to make to us. He has in the 
boundless treasury of His graces, infallible means 
to lead us to holiness. Therefore we ought never 
to fear asking Him too much, or asking things too 
difficult. 

God being infinitely rich, possesses all good, in 
the order of grace, as in the order of nature. Be- 
in£ infinitely powerful, there are none of these 
treasures of which He cannot make us partake. 
Being infinitely good, He is disposed to grant us 
according to His promises, all that is necessary for 
our salvation. It is on these substantial motives, 
drawn from the perfections of God, that we should 
found our Hope — and only thus can our confi- 
dence have that unshaken firmness which it ought 
to have. 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



11 



CI) apter 5. 

A POWERFUL MOTIVE FOR CONFIDENCE IS THE INFINITE TALUK 
OF THE SUFFERINGS AND MERITS OF JESUS CHRIST. 

A soul that is addicted to despondency, is swayed 
by fear, which prevents it from reflecting on the 
immovable foundations of confidence in Grod. We 
cannot therefore give her too many motives for 
overcoming that fear which harasses her inces- 
santly. She will find a powerful one in the suffer- 
ings of Jesus Christ, which are as infinite, as the 
dignity of his person is immense. This divine 
Saviour dying for all mankind, praying for all, 
offering for all His sufferings and His death, has 
merited for them all the graces which are neces- 
sary for them to overcome their spiritual enemy 
and to gain eternal happiness. These merits which 
Jesus Christ did not need for himself He has given 
over to mankind. So that, according to St. Bern- 
ard, these merits become our own. And by offer- 
ing them to the Father, we obtain that help which 
we need to strengthen us against the enemies 
of our salvation. It is from this principle that 
the Church, in all the prayers she makes to God, 
always invokes the merits of Jesus Christ our 
Lord. 

u But," exclaims a soul, frightened at the 
thought of her many past offenses, " how must 
our Lord and Saviour look upon me, after the 



12 



DESPONDENCY IN 



many outrages which I have committed against 
Him! Can He any longer interest Himself for 
one who has been so long His enemy?" Can a 
well-instructed Christian soul have any doubt on 
this point ? Did not Jesus Christ Himself assure 
us, that He came into the world to suffer and die 
for sinners ; that He came chiefly to seek for sin- 
ners? Now, in the face of this assertion, will they 
still imagine that, because they are sinners, they 
will be refused the help they require to return to 
God? No, Heaven and Earth may pass away, but 
the promises of God shall not pass away unful- 
filled. These promises relate to sinners, and if 
there had been no sinners, would Jesus Christ 
have suffered ? Would He have submitted to a 
cruel death? The more sinful man is, the more 
strikingly are the mercy of God, and the power of 
the Saviour's merits displayed. Is there any blacker 
crime than the treachery of Judas? Yes, answers 
St. Jerome, there is one still more enormous, 
despair! Judas rendered himself more guilty in 
taking away his own life, than in betraying his 
divine Master. 

Let us then never fear to have recourse to the 
merits of Jesus Christ. We honor them when we 
make use of them to obtain the helps which we 
need, since it was for this, that Jesus Christ vouch- 
safed to acquire them and to give them over to us. 
It is in applying them to ourselves through prayer 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



13 



and good works, that we fulfil the end for which 
they were purchased. 

It would he a singular way of honoring them, 
the not daring to make use of them ; it would be 
going directly against the end which our divine 
Saviour proposed to Himself. In turning from 
His gifts as useless, we would not be evincing our 
esteem for them, but only proving our indifference. 

Since we acknowledge that we are poor, weak 
and miserable, should we not seek to enrich and to 
strengthen ourselves, and to cure our evils? Jesus 
. Christ offers Himself to accomplish these miracles 
in us, by offering His infinite merits. With loving 
tenderness He says to us : " Come to me, all ye 
that labor and are heavy Lurdened and I will refresh 
you." (Matt, xi, 28). Is it not therefore against 
every principle, against every feeling, and still 
more against the intention of the Saviour Himself 
to fear to have recourse to Him ? 

Temptation attacks the soul in every way. 
Through a sentiment of false humility, a fear is 
conceived which fills the soul with dejection. 
Christian humility and sound reason require, that 
we should recognize our unworthiness of heavenly 
benefits ; but they do not require us to refuse those 
which are offered, or not to -ask for those that 
have been promised to our prayers. Still more 
does the gratitude which we owe to Jesus Christ 
require that we should obey His will, in profiting 
by His sufferings, to obtain the graces which He 



14 



DESPONDENCY IN 



has earned for us. Never can we honor Him 
more than in corresponding to the merciful de- 
signs which He had in immolating Himself for us. 

On what could we rely, to appease the justice 
of God outraged by sin, and to draw down His 
mercy, if not upon the merits of our Saviour? 
It is in presenting them to God that we may hope 
to disarm His anger. Just as He can only see 
in us that which must provoke His justice ; so in 
His Son He only sees what solicits His mercy. 
This Divine Mercy is exercised in our behalf as 
soon as we, with sentiments of regret, present our- 
selves to Him, under the shadow of the Saviour's 
cross, and covered with His precious blood. And 
thus also is justice appeased. Mercy and trnth, 
justice and peace make together a blessed treaty 
for us. In the language of the Psalmist : " Mercy 
and truth have met each other; justice and peace 
have kissed.' 1 (Ps. lxxxiv, 11). 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



15 



<E f) a p t e r 6 . 

MOTIVE OF CONFIDENCE FOR THE RELIGIOUS SOUL, IN THE MERCY 
WHICH GOD HAS SHOWN IN SELECTING HER FOR THE GRACE 
OF HER VOCATION. FALSE IDEAS AND FEELINGS WHICH WE 
ASCRIBE TO GOD. 

The religious sees in his vocation a strong proof 
of God's mercy in his regard. There is no one, no 
matter what his state may be, who, after having 
served God with fidelity, falls into sin, or into a 
state of indifference, and again seeks to return to 
God, that ought to doubt of His mercy, and that 
the atoning merits of our Lord will be applied in 
his behalf. That contrite feeling, that holy desire 
to return to God and to the faithful discharge of 
our duties, does it not come from God Himself? 
That strength, that courage to sacrifice the goods 
and pleasures of this world, his evil passions and 
his own will, from whom does all this come but 
from God? That tender devotion, which led him 
to consecrate himself to God, and sustained him 
in all his conflicts against his natural inclinations, 
who inspired it but God ? 

If we could be so presumptuous as to imagine 
that we owe this to ourselves, the experience of 
our weakness should alone undeceive us, and the 
words of our Lord condemn us. As He spoke to 
His Apostles, so does He still speak to every soul 
consecrated to His service : H Ye have not chosen 



16 



DESPONDENCY IN 



Me; hit I have chosen you" ( John xv, 16), even 
before you thought of Me, whilst you neglected 
Me, and turned away from Me, and obstinately 
resisted Me ! Can God have done so much for us, 
and yet not really wish to aid us when we call upon 
Him for help ? Surely, to think this would be to 
accuse God of contradicting Himself. No ; when 
such a soul has recourse to God, He will finish the 
work He has commenced in her, and lead her on 
to the perfection of her state. To this He has 
pledged His word ; and He still continues to urge 
the desponding soul lovingly to cast herself into 
the bosom of His mercy, there to find her peace 
and her salvation. 

It is because we judge God by our own weak 
human hearts, that we fear to exhaust His mercy. 
If a person, to whom we have given important 
assistance, whom we have loaded with benefits, 
treats us with ingratitude, and, in return for kind- 
ness, heaps insults upon us, we turn away from 
him as unworthy of further notice, more especially 
if he has made use of our very benefits to injure 
us — we abandon him forever. We should con- 
sider we were acting against every dictate of com- 
mon sense and prudence, did we continue to fur- 
nish him with arms to use against us. 

The same feelings and judgment we ascribe to 
God ; forgetting that His ways are as far removed 
from our ways as the Heavens are from the Earth. 
God bears with our wanderings because He is eter- 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



17 



nal and all-powerful, and He knows that the day 
of His justice will come, when all will be brought 
into order, and forever. He is patient, because 
He is infinitely good, and wishes to give us the 
means to return to Him. He who knows all 
things has seen, from all eternity, all our weak- 
nesses, our ingratitude, and our reiterated falls. 
He has foreseen that we could not do any thing of 
ourselves, much less return to Him without help ; 
and that help He has prepared for us, in the per- 
son of His Son, Jesus. He entreats us, he even 
commands us to call upon him, in all our wander- 
ings, and He will assist us, He will be our propiti- 
tion ; for it is in helping us and pardoning us that 
His mercy is exercised. 

This conduct God evinced in a striking manner 
toward the Jewish nation. Whenever they fell 
into idolatry, God punished them, to bring them 
back to their allegiance. When they abandoned 
their Lord to serve strange gods, He would deliver 
them over to their enemies, to be held in cruel 
bondage. Then, when bowed down by the miseries 
Of their servitude, they lifted up their hearts to 
God and called upon Him with confidence, God 
sent them a deliverer to free them from the hard 
yoke under which they groaned. And so did they 
continue during a period of four hundred years, 
continually relapsing into idolatry, and as often 
experiencing the mercy of God when they called 
upon Him. 

2 



18 



DESPONDENCY IN 



Judge from this if God will tire in pardoning 
us, if we turn to Him with a sincerely contrite 
heart. But if the conduct of God towards His 
Jewish people does not remove your fears, listen to 
the words of the Prophet-King, inspired by the 
Holy Ghost, who assures us that God : H Will not 
despise a contrite and humbled heart." (P& 1, 19). 

When, terrified by the recollection of our sins, 
we have the thought or the wish to return to God, 
it is He who is then attracting us by His grace. 
Does He call us only that He may refuse to re- 
ceive us? Who can think it? He told St. Peter 
to forgive after every offense : " / say not to thee, 
till seven times, but till seventy times seven," ( Matt. 
xviii, 22), and by this we may learn to know His 
dispositions in our regard. Ah ! we little know the 
boundless tenderness of that divine Heart, if we 
judge of it by our own, or if we imagine that It 
ever ceases to care for us. So long as we are in 
this life we are under the law of Mercy, and of 
that mercy we can ever avail ourselves. It is 
death only that places us under the law of immu- 
table Justice. 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



19 



C f) a p t e r 7 . 

OUR REITERATED INFIDELITIES OUGHT NOT TO MAKE US LOSE 
CONFIDENCE IN GOD — IT IS THE WANT OF FAITH WHICH 
MAKES US FEAR. 

God. who is the tender Father of all His creatures, 
has taken ever}* means to remove that excessive 
fear which would draw them from Him. To pre- 
vent the soul, that has become sensible of its in- 
gratitude and terrified at the view of its repeated 
relapses into sin. after so often obtaining pardon 
for them — to prevent such a soul from losing all 
hope and daring no longer to cry out to Him from 
the abyss into which it has again fallen, not only 
does He assure it, by the mouth of the Psalm- 
ist: '"That tJtose icJlo hope in Him shall never he 
co a founded but He expressly declares the posi- 
tive law of His mercy and commands us to hope 
in Him. 

This precept we cannot fully accomplish but 
with the help of His grace ; and can the Almighty 
have made this precept and* not wish to help us 
keep it? And can He fail to be touched by our 
obedience, when we endeavor to do so? Can He 
turn away from us, when we call upon Him, as He 
has ordered us to do ? Xo ; God cannot be other- 
wise than faithful to His promises. If we fail, it 
is because we have not asked with confidence, and 
because our faith is weak. 



20 



DESPONDENCY IN 



Let the Holy Scripture here furnish you with 
another proof of this. St. Peter, %t the order 
of his divine Master, confidently walks upon 
the waters. The wind rises, and the Apostle's 
trust lessens ; he fears, and immediately begins to 
sink — but the danger re-animates his confidence : 
Peter has recourse to his divine Master, Who 
stretches forth His hand to save him from per- 
ishing. For our instruction Jesus let His Apos- 
tle know what danger he had been in, when He 
thus reproached him : " Oh thou of little faith] why 
didst thou doubt? ? ' (Matt, xiv, 31). 

A faithful picture of what too often happens to 
Christian souls ! So long as all is at peace in our 
hearts, we proceed with confidence towards Jesus. 
But let the winds of temptation arise ; let the dif- 
ficulties of our vocation be felt, we become terri- 
fied — we forget that we are walking at the call of 
Jesus ; we begin to fear, we hesitate in our confi- 
dence ; and this first infidelity weakens us still 
further — and we begin to sink. If our confidence 
does not reanimate and lead us to ask for help, we 
shall be overwhelmed. 

St. Peter would have perished, had he not 
called upon Jesus for help ; and his kind Master 
heard him. If we have imitated the Apostle in 
our weakness, like him also, let us lose no time in 
invoking the Saviour in our need. We should ex- 
perience his protection, and thus should we be 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



21 



spared all those anxieties, and fears, and falls, which 
our want of confidence occasions. Help is ever at 
hand, and ever ready for the asking; it is our own 
fault if we do not make use of it. 



GOD IS NEVER SO NEAR TO US, TO ASSIST US IN OUR CONFLICTS, 
AS WHEN WE IMAGINE HIM FAR AWAY. HE HIDES HIMSELF 
ONLY THAT WE MAY SEEK HIM, AND FIND HIM. 

Sometimes God does not make us wait for Him 
long, and we have a sensible feeling of His assist- 
ance, as soon as we call upon Him. Hardly had 
Peter exclaimed u Lord, save me, or I perish ! " 
but the hand of the Saviour was stretched forth to 
save him. At other times our divine Lord acts in 
a more hidden manner. Sometimes He watches 
our struggles without letting His presence be felt, 
but never is He so near to us, so ready to help us, 
as soon as we call, as when the danger is greatest 
and most pressing. We become terrified, because 
we do not seriously realize our Saviour's presence ; 
we think He is afar off, and yet He is in our very 
heart, and it is He that is strengthening us. We 
think He is unmindful of our danger, and all the 
time He is watching over our preservation, moderat- 
ing the swelling waves of our passions, that might 

i 



22 



DESPONDENCY IN 



cause us to sink, saying to them, " Hitherto thou 
shall come, and thou shalt go no further, and here 
thou shalt break thy swelling waves. v (Job, xxxviii, 
11). Our Saviour who has taught us by His ac- 
tions as well as by His words, gives us upon this 
subject a lesson which is as clear, as it is consoling. 
Once as he lay in Peter's bark, it was tossed by a 
furious storm, which seemed to threaten its total 
wreck. He appears to be sleeping, and unconscious 
of the danger, but He is all the while directing the 
disciples in the efforts they are making to save their 
little craft. But the danger and the labor continue 
so long as they forget to have recourse to their 
divine Master, and with that confidence which works 
miracles. As soon as they call upon Him, He an- 
swers, He rises, and commands the winds and waves 
to be still. " And there came a great calm." (Matt. 
viii, 26). How often have we not experienced the 
same thing? When exposed to temptation, which 
God permits in order to strengthen us in humility 
and vigilance, we see ourselves upon the very edge 
of a precipice, into which we look with horror ; we 
imagine that we have no longer any strength, and 
that we are on the point of yielding ; but notwith- 
standing the efforts of the enemy, we keep up our 
courage, we resist, and we continue at the post of 
duty — in that trying situation, what strength up- 
held us? Surely we will not have the presumption 
to suppose that we have resisted by the power, or 
by the strength of those resolutions which have 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



23 



so often wavered ? Oh, no ; we must admit that it 
was a celestial power that rescued us from ship- 
wreck. Jesus Christ himself was secretly working 
in our hearts. His assistance was not apparent ; it 
was not the less real ; the arm that upheld us was 
invisible ; it was not the less strong. We know 
not how we resisted, we only know that we have 
been victorious in our combat, through the grace 
of Jesus Christ, who has once more re-established 
in our heart, that peace which our temptation had 
disturbed. It is on such occasions that the soul 
must " Against hope believe m hope." (Romans, iv, 
18). 



Chapter 0 . 

WE CAN NOT CONQUER WITHOUT FIGHTING — AND THERE IS NO 
FIGHTING WITHOUT TROUBLE. 

The arguments that show the necessity for Chris- 
tian hope are readily admitted ; but the devil en- 
deavors by his artful suggestions, to make the de- 
spondent soul find pretexts for not applying them 
to herself. Indolence or aversion to everything 
that gives trouble, is common to all men. When we 
have devoted ourselves to God's service, we would 
like to enjoy the happiness of our condition, with- 
out its costing us much, forgetting the words of our 
Saviour — " The kingdom of Heaven suffereth vio* 



24 



DESPONDENCY IN 



le?ice, and the violent bear it away." (Matt, xi, 12). 
Let us ever remember that Christ did not enter into 
his glory until after he had suffered, and that He 
has admitted His saints to share it, only after 
crosses, and combats, and sacrifices, the renouncing 
of their passions and their self-will. 

Heaven is a reward ; and we can earn it only, 
by preferring God and His holy will before all 
other things, and being ready to sacrifice whatever 
is dearest to us, whenever He requires it. This, 
then, is certain, and St. Paul declares it, " He that 
striveth for the mastery is not crowned, except he strive 
lawfully.*' (2 Tim. ii, 5). To aspire to the crown 
of Justice, without fighting, is a contradiction to 
the truths of Faith — to expect to fight, and yet 
not to suffer, is contrary to common sense. But it 
is often from the very knowledge we have, of what 
God requires of us, that the devil uses his argu- 
ments for discouraging us, making use of our sloth, 
to intimidate us from undertaking the necessary 
labor. It costs us nothing to follow our natural 
inclinations ; it costs us much to repress them, and 
the enemy of our souls never loses sight of that, 
and contrives, readily enough, to make us prefer 
the former. Therefore does he set before our eyes 
a lively representation of the difficulties we shall 
undergo in the service of God, that our life will be 
a constant torture, and a constant battle. But on 
the other hand, he carefully conceals the peace of 
heart which we find in obeying God ; the solid com 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



25 



solations we receive in our trials, the hope of our 
eternal reward. Xo, the devil will show us our 
weakness to its fullest extent, will remind us of our 
repeated relapses ; hut the mercy of God, and the 
support of that all-powerful arm which so often 
upheld us, he will try to make us forget. 

Let us now see how we are apt to behave under 
this species of temptation. Entirely absorbed by 
the thought of our weakness and the difficulties of 
what we have undertaken, we fall into discourage- 
ment, instead of exclaiming with holy king David : 
u Though I should walk in the midst of the shadow 
of death, I will fear no evils, for thou art with me." 
(Ps. xxii, 4). In this state of discouragement, we 
have but a feeble hope that God will help us ; we 
hardly expect it, we scarcely dare to ask for it ; 
perhaps even, we fear to attain it, lest it should 
oblige us to relinquish certain favorite inclinations. 
In this condition, despairing of being able to per- 
severe in such a life of self-violence, we struggle 
but feebly, if at all. Our first relapse serves to 
confirm this impression — that it is useless for us 
to resist, and that we must only wait for the time 
'when our passions shall be weaker. 

Henceforward, everything becomes more diffi- 
cult. Disgust and the spirit of indifference, with 
regard to our duties, take possession of our mind 
and heart, and these duties are thus rendered only 
the more arduous. Our exercises of piety we omit 
altogether, or acquit ourselves of them so careless- 



26 



DESPONDENCY IN 



ly, that they can not be pleasing to G-od. A dissi- 
pated and distracted state of mind and heart, suc- 
ceed to the interior life which we formerly led. 
We abandon our pious practices, resist grace, si- 
lence the voice of our conscience, and even avoid 
entertaining good thoughts. We follow only the 
bent of our inclinations and caprices, where we 
meet with no resistance. In His mercy, God may at 
times speak to us ; but we have begun to dread the 
voice that would urge us to shake off the bonds of 
sloth and lukewarmness. This is the point to which 
the enemy of our salvation has sought to lead us ; 
he wished to prevent us from reflection, and from 
working for our salvation; and he has succeeded. 

These details are perhaps lengthy, but they 
may help you to understand the enemy's plan of 
attack, and enable you to prepare a defense which 
shall defeat his designs. 

I am quite aware that could we foresee all the 
difficulties and trials that must be encountered 
in the service of God, taken collectively for the 
space of a long life, we might well feel appalled. 
But is this the way in which we are called upon to 
encounter the trials of a Christian life? Our* 
temptations and trials generally meet us separately ; 
to-day we have one enemy to combat, to-morrow 
another, according to the occasion. If there are 
some that again and again have to be met and over- 
come, there are others that return but seldom. 
Against the former, we must guard ourselves in an 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



27 



especial manner ; against the latter we must pre- 
pare ourselves by frequent exercise of the love of 
God. It would surely evince great pusillanimity, 
to be afraid to resist an enemy that opposes us 
singly, and who grows strong only in proportion 
as we show ourselves to be weak. Tremble at his 
approach and you are overcome ; but resist him, 
invoking God's assistance, and you are sure to 
conquer. 

Never consider collectively, what is to be pre- 
sented to you separately. We have only to answer 
for the present, and therefore to torment one's self 
about the uncertain future, is folly. Such conduct 
is really going in advance of temptation, or, in 
other words, seeking it ; it is laying snares for one's 
own destruction. Why should we suffer in imagin- 
ation that which we may never have to. suffer in 
reality ? <c Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof. " 
(Matt, vi, 34). To expose one's self to temptation, 
is contrary alike to religion, and to Christian 
prudence. 

If, then, a person does violence to himself for 
the love of God, and in the hope of reward; if at 
any trial to which he is exposed, he occupies him- 
self exclusively with it, and thinks only how he 
will derive from it the greatest benefit; he will 
easily undergo them all successively, by the grace 
of our Lord, and with great merit to himself. 

A person in religious life feels a repugnance for 
the yoke and restraint of obedience and regularity ; 



28 



DESPONDENCY IN 



suppose, instead of overcoming himself on each 
occasion, he begins to consider the difficulty of a 
whole life passed in such constraint ; his courage 
sinks at the prospect, and he is ready to despair. 
But let him only look at it as the restraint of a day, 
or half a day, or only in connection with the pres- 
ent duty, half the difficulty vanishes, and he finds 
his strength is fully equal to it. And, indeed, it is 
frequently but a momentary trial, and the trouble 
ceases when the determination is firmly taken. 

Let us rest assured too, that we are very much 
rnistaken, if we think that the difficulty which we 
experience in self-mortification, and in performing 
our duties for the love of God. will continue as 
vivid and painful as we find them in the beginning. 
Experience teaches us that, on merely natural 
principles, when we frequently perform any action, 
or through the assistance 6f divine grace accustom 
ourselves to act from good motives, we contract a 
habit of doing so, which becomes easier with every 
repetition. Whatever difficulty at first existed, 
gradually diminishes, and finally disappears. Let 
us only, for a while, do violence to ourselves, and 
perform our actions with fidelity and exactness, as 
to time and place, and we shall soon find that we 
do them, as it were, instinctively, and the religious 
motive seems to present itself of its own accord. 
So true is this, that some scrupulous souls are apt 
to become troubled, and wrongly imagine that they 
have no merit, because they no longer feel the sac- 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



29 



rifice or the suffering, in the duty which had cost 
them so much at first. They overlook the fact, 
that it is the supernatural motive, under the insti- 
gation of grace, which gives merit to the action, 
and not its difficulty. 

Religion, moreover, teaches us, that God rewards 
the efforts we make to overcome ourselves, by im- 
parting graces which not only lessen our difficul- 
ties, but even cause us to derive pleasure from what 
was at first so painful. And even should the trial 
continue for a longer time, He will never suffer it 
to surpass our strength aided by the grace which 
Pie has provided, and which we can always obtain 
through prayer. Rely on this promise, for it can 
never fail. 

Let us never dwell upon the uncertainty of our 
perseverance, without also remembering God's as- 
surance that He will help us, and reward us ; this 
will strengthen us, and reanimate our confidence. 



30 



DESPONDENCY IN 



(EljajjUr 10. 

IT IS TEMPTING GOD AND TEMPTING ONE'S SELF, TO BE SOLI- 
CITOUS ABOUT THE CONFLICTS THAT MAY AWAIT US. 

Many will say, is it not required of ine to have 
the disposition to fulfil all my obligations ? Yet, 
when I foresee all that they may entail upon me, I 
do not feel the strength to undergo such conflicts 
for a whole life-time — how is it, then, possible 
not to tremble and to feel discouraged ? 

In the first place, as we have before remarked, 
these conflicts will not always continue with the 
same power, nor will you be so keenly conscious 
of them ; therefore do not judge of the difficulty 
of persevering, by the difficulty you at present ex- 
perience. Begin with your present help, and hope 
for the same in the time to come. 

Secondly ; God forbids us rashly to expose our- 
selves to the occasion of temptation. He has not 
promised His assistance to the one who, with dis- 
trustful solicitude, anticipates, in imagination, all 
his possible trials, and that collectively ; trials 
which he may perhaps not have to undergo, and 
which, should they come at all, will certainly never 
come all at once. To-day you may not feel the 
strength to encounter them ; but the hour for the 
battle has not yet struck — there is a grace await- 
ing you for that trial. You have not yet received 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



81 



it, and it is no wonder, therefore, that you should 
feel alarmed. 

But why should you expose yourself thus to 
temptations, contrary to the will of God? .Why 
should you seek to sound your heart, to find out 
how you are disposed in regard to the heavy 
crosses, the violent temptations, and the protracted 
conflicts which others have to endure, and which, 
possibly, may fall to your lot? God has promised 
His sufficient grace for the sacrifices He requires 
of us. But He has not promised His assistance to 
those who, in imagination, place themselves in cir- 
cumstances which do not exist, and to which, pos- 
sibly, they may never be exposed. 

The truly Christian soul is humble, and far 
from seeking danger, fears and avoids it. It is from 
rashness, from a secret presumption, and self-love, 
that you thus seek temptation. 

Is it then surprising that you find your will 
weak and irresolute? God's holy grace is not dis- 
pensed according to our whims and fancies, but 
according to our real needs, when we submit to the 
order of His providence. 

Let us,- then, beware of the temptation which 
deludes imprudent and misguided souls, in causing 
them to dwell upon imaginary and future diffi- 
culties, which do not come from God, and leading 
them to neglect, the present efforts and sacrifices 
which God is requiring of them. Losing sight of 
a reality, they follow a shadow. 



32 



DESPONDENCY IN 



The faithful soul, who desires to please God. 
must not anticipate, in her imagination, painful 
trials, under pretext of testing her readiness to 
accept them. This species of foresight God, far 
from approving, condemns. It is, in a certain 
sense, tempting divine providence. Though the 
intention that leads to it may appear good, do not 
trust to it, but carefully avoid it. What God 
requires of us, is an abiding determination not 
only to avoid sin, but its proximate occasions ; to 
beai, with submission, the crosses that await us 
daily, and not to invent crosses, in order to carry 
them, before they are sent. It will be time enough 
to suffer, when God permits it, without seeking to 
suffer, beforehand, a trouble which He has not yet 
given us, and which, perhaps, He may never send. 
These imaginary evils, rashly taken upon ourselves, 
will be all the harder, because God will not aid us 
to bear them. 

If the anticipation of these crosses intrudes 
itself upon the mind, without the consent of the 
will, then raise the heart to God, and say, with 
confidence and with love : " If it is Thy will, 0 
my G-od, that these crosses be laid upon me. let me 
hope that, according to Thy promise, and through 
the merits of Jesus Christ, I may be assisted to 
carry them." After this little prayer banish these 
dangerous considerations ; apply yourself to the 
faithful fulfilment of your duties, to mortifying 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



33 



yourself when the occasion offers. This fidelity 
will be a much more certain and useful proof of 
your love of God. 



Chapter 11. 

OF WEARINBSS, DISGUST, AND* DIFFICULTIES IN THE SERVICE 
OF GOD — CAUSES OF A DISCOURAGEMENT CONTRARY TO REASON. 

The Christian who thinks that all his prayers are 
vain, to conquer his ruling passiofi, or to over- 
come an habitual temptation ; who feels in the ser- 
vice of God only weariness and disgust, becomes 
perplexed and anxious. The evil one soon begins 
to suggest to him, that God does not hear him, 
that his prayers are useless, and thus leads him to 
the very brink of discouragement, seeing in God 
only a hard and angry master, whom he no longer 
hopes to be able to please. What deceives such a 
person (whom God has not abandoned, but permits 
to be tried) is, that as he serves God with disgust, 
with languor, and with dryness of heart, he pre- 
sumes that his service is neither pleasing to God, 
nor meritorious to himself. This thought at first 
depresses him, and soon discourages him altogether, 
unless the Lord vouchsafes to grant him a return 
of that spiritual sweetness which he once enjoyed, 
and still continues to ask for. Such a person must 
be reminded #f the truths of religion, which will 



34 



DESPONDENCY IN 



3 



reanimate his confidence, and prove to him that 
his fears were groundless. 

That' weariness, those repugnances and disgusts 
which are often accompanied by other temptations, 
are not in themselves sins — they are not even im- 
perfections ; how then can they detract from the 
merit of our actions or prevent their being pleasing 
to God? Man cannot know the interior, and con- 
sequently judges of the merit and excellence of an 
action by outward appearances of zeal ; so that, in 
his eyes, the manner, in which the action is per- 
formed greatly augments or diminishes its value. 
But it is not thus with God — He reads the heart, 
and judges of the sincerity of our intentions in 
themselves, and without regard to exterior forms. 
To please God it suffices to be obedient to His 
holy will. 

This truth is undeniable ; we have for its sup- 
port the word and example of Jesus Christ Him- 
self. Our divine Lord, teaching his Disciples, 
says : " tie that doth the icill of my Father icho 
is in Heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of 
Heaven.''' (Matt, vii, 21). He does not say that 
we must do it with pleasure, or from a sensible at- 
traction ; He only requires us to do it, no matter 
what the difficulty may be, and it is for this that 
He promises us salvation. If that state of disgust 
and weariness does not prevent the Christian soul 
from properly performing the duties that God re- 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



35 



quires of her, it follows that it is not an obstacle 
to sanctification and salvation. 

Our divine Saviour confirms His teaching by 
His example. Though incapable, not only of sin, 
but even of the slightest imperfection, He chose, 
nevertheless, to undergo the same trials to which 
He subjects His creatures. In the desert, He per- 
mitted the evil spirit to tempt Him by suggestions 
of vanity, of worldly honors, and of presumptuous 
confidence. In the garden of Olives, at the pros- 
pect of the sufferings that awaited Him, and of the 
ingratitude of mankind, He underwent a most op- 
pressive desolation of heart, profound sadness, and 
intense disgust. But as these temptations and 
feelings did not change His fidelity and submission 
to the will of the Father, in that state of suffering 
and desolation, He was not less the object of the 
admiration of Heaven and of the complacency of 
the Eternal Father. 

It is therefore certain that the state of tempta- 
tion, of desolation, of repugnance and weariness, 
that the soul may experience, however great it may 
be, is not a sin in itself; that these involuntary 
feelings are not even imperfections, and the duties 
performed whilst in that state are none the less 
pleasing to God and meritorious for salvation. 

I cannot too much insist upon this truth ; for I 
am conscious that there are many who, notwith- 
standing the words and example of Jesus Christ, 
are always troubled by what they experience in 



36 



DESPONDENCY IN 



this state of dryness and desolation — they have 
read that they must serve the Lord with gladness, 
and as soon as they cease to experience this feel- 
ing, which Jesus Christ does not require of them, 
and which does not depend upon them, but only 
upon God, as we shall elsewhere show, they begin 
to tremble and fear that they are separated from 
God ; and even that they are already rejected 
by Him. 

Let us reason still further upon this. As long 
as you do not yield to these temptations, to this 
dryness, and disgust, you endure them against your 
will, they do not depend upon you. If they de- 
pended upon you, you certainly would not permit 
tliem, since they make you suffer so muth. Now, 
it is clear, that feelings, that do not depend upon 
you, which you do not wilfully entertain, which 
you even struggle against, cannot render you guilty 
before God. Ymi are only responsible before God 
for that which depends upon yourself, to do or not 
to do, and is the free choice of your will. 

This is a truth upon which the Church has de- 
cided, and which cannot therefore be doubted ; it 
is a truth which reason herself teaches. How 
could we reconcile our belief of the Justice and 
Goodness of the Almighty with the idea that He 
would punish us for that which we could not avoid ? 
It is, therefore, certain that a state- of dryness has 
nothing in itself that can render the soul displeas- 
ing to God. 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



37 



We must further add, for the consolation of 
tempted and discouraged souls, that if, in this state, 
they do not relax from the faithful discharge of 
their duties, they are really evincing to the Al- 
mighty a more fervent love ; they obtain from Him 
a more convincing proof of His protection, and 
they receive more merit for their actions, than 
when, sustained by more sensible consolations, they 
experience little or no difficulty. It cannot be 
doubted that the more enemies there are to be 
conquered and difficulties to be surmounted, to ac- 
complish the will of God, the more must such a 
soul be strengthened by divine love. If its love 
were weak it could not resist the evil powers that 
combine to overthrow it. The fidelity of the soul 
in that state, exhibits the mercy of God in her 
regard, in the strength of His grace, by which 
she is sustained, a grace which is so much the 
more powerful and meritorious, that it is not sen- 
sibly felt. 

In these conflicts, which are frequently long and 
obstinate, we may commit some faults; it is the 
lot of human nature, but let them not cause alarm, 
for they are repaired by the sacrifices which we are 
constantly offering to God. If, then, we bear this 
cross with submission ; if we constantly deny our- 
selves, to follow in the spirit of Faith, the light 
which we have received, can we fear we shall be 
rejected from among the followers of Jesus? Has 
not that divine Saviour said, that to follow Him 



38 



DESPONDENCY IN 



" We must deny ourselves and take tip our cross." 
(Matt, xvi, 24). This is what is done when we 
persevere notwithstanding our aridity, weariness 
and disgust. Can we think God will permit so 
many sacrifices to go unrewarded ? No, the Apostle 
says: " God i? not unjust to forget your work, and 
the love which ye have shown in His name." 
Hebrews, vi, 10). Be faithful, then, your reward 
is at hand. God's word can never fail. A few 
days of light labor, and then — eternity ! an eter- 
nity of ineffable happiness — and a happiness which 
generally begins even in this life, by the graces of 
consolation and peace which God sends to the soul 
He has previously tried. Such is the lot awarded 
to you. The Saints have shared it with you. 



(Heavier 12 

IT IS NOT WELL TO ASK GOD TO PUT AN END TO OUR TRIALS 
AND DIFFICULTIES, AND TO DESIRE THE IMMEDIATE FUL- 
FILMENT OF OUR PRAYERS. 

Notwithstanding the truths we have just laid 
down, it must be admitted that this state of aridity 
and disgust is always hard to bear. Man naturally 
abhors difficulties and trials. Instead of being oc- 
cupied with the advantages accruing from these 
conflicts, he is mindful only of the efforts they cost, 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



39 



and turns to God for assistance. But what is his 
prayer? It is that God should put an end to this 
state of anxiety, weariness and disgust. If the x\l- 
mighty does not grant it, but wishes to try him 
further, he imagines that he prays in vain, that God 
does not hear him, that he does not obtain the as- 
sistance which he implores. Trouble, fear and 
discouragement take entire possession of him. In 
this state, he does not know what to ask of God, 
he scarcely dares to address Him. While he ex- 
claims with the Saviour, " Oh, my Father, if it be 
possible, let this chalice pass from Me" he has^not 
the courage to add, " nevertheless, not as I will, but 
as Thou.' (Matt, xxvi, 39). It requires a lively 
Faith and ardent love, thus to cast one's self into 
the arms of divine Providence, which nevertheless 
guards us with a care that is proportioned to the 
perfection of Dur confidence. 

Religion teaches us, that God in his dealings 
with His creatures, can only have in view, His own 
glory, and their ultimate sanctification. It belongs, 
therefore, to God alone to decide in what way He 
chooses to be glorified by our service, and by what 
path He chooses to lead us to our sanctification and 
happiness. Shall the creature presume to serve the 
Creator, according to its own ideas and peculiar 
predilections — prescribe to Him the manner in 
which he wishes to be led by His Providence, and 
determine the conditions on which He must assign 
His rewards ? The very idea is an extravagant de- 



40 



DESPONDENCY IN 



lusion ; for it would be leaving us to be guided by 
our own passions and prejudices. 

Man's position, therefore, with regard to God, 
must be that of an humble and entire submission. 
His first care must be to seek to know what God 
requires of him, and then to follow in the path He 
points out, with confidence, with love and docility. 
God must trace the plan; it is for man to execute 
it with the help of God's grace. If he enters the 
path with the proper dispositions, it will be the 
safest one for him, because God, in selecting it for 
his sanctification, has prepared especial graces to 
guide and strengthens him therein. Whenever we 
are thus in the state which Providence has designed 
for us, we may always expect this especial protec- 
tion. 

If God chooses to lead a soul to heaven through 
the path of dryness and desolation, may it pray 
that the will of Providence be changed in its be- 
half? It may, for even Christ did the same ; and 
the prayer is often granted. A delaj in granting 
a petition, is not a refusal ; perseverance may ob- 
tain it from God, when the time to show us His 
mercy has come. But we should never make this 
the single object of our prayers, so as to become 
disheartened should it be refused. In so doing, we 
should not follow the example given by our Saviour, 
and imitated by His Saints ; but rather the sugges- 
tions of the tempter, who seeks to turn us from 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



41 



God, and the path His Providence has marked out 
for us. 

The first and chief object of our prayers, should 
be to ask of God, submission to His holy will, and 
grace to fulfil with resignation, with fidelity and 
with love, the duties of the state in which He has 
placed us for our sanctification, for He and not our- 
selves, has chosen that state. But let this prayer 
be made with the humble conviction, that we de- 
serve no favors from God, and that having had the 
misfortune to offend Him, it is only through His 
mercy that He continues to bear with us ; and that 
like the Prodigal Son, we should not expect to be 
treated as His children, but like the meanest of His 
servants, bearing with the trials of our state, in the 
spirit of Penance, and abandoning ourselves to 
His Providence to suffer as long as He is glorified 
by our sufferings. This is the best means we can 
adopt, to obtain from God a deliverance from our 
painful trials. 

You think God does not hear you, because He 
leaves you in the state of aridity and temptation, 
from which you have prayed to be delivered ! This 
is not according to the teachings of religion. If 
your prayer is made with confidence, with submis- 
sion and with perseverance, it will certainly be 
heard ; Christ Himself has promised it. God may 
not grant the partipular favor you ask for; He may 
see that it would be prejudicial to you, or less use- 
ful than other gifts which He intends to confer 



42 



DESPONDENCY IN 



upon you. Instead of the favor which you seek, 
but which His mercy witholds, He will give you 
graces that are more precious and more desir- 
able, and which will enable you to practise the 
higher virtues of religion; graces which will en- 
able you to merit heaven, by self-denial, mortifica- 
tion, submission, the spirit of penance ; graces 
which will support you in your conflicts, and which 
will teach you your nothingness, convince you of 
your weakness, preserve you in Christian humility, 
the foundation of all true virtue, in watchfulness 
over yourself, and in continual union with God to 
solicit His help, the need of which you will more 
and more estimate. 

This disposition of Providence is clearly pointed 
out to us by St. Paul. That great Apostle fre- 
quently entreated the Lord to deliver him from a 
humiliating temptation, which tormented him ; but 
God permitted this temptation, lest, as the Apostle 
himself relates : " The greatness of the revelations 
should lift me up." (2 Cor. xii, 7.) God refused to 
deliver him from his temptation, but assured him 
of His help. M My grace is sufficient for thee." (2 
Cor. xii, 9.) Therefore the refusal to grant the 
prayer of one who has been long tempted and 
troubled, does not argue, that God has turned from 
him, and abandoned him. It only proves that 
God's designs over him, are not according to his 
views, and that though He does not deliver him, 
He is ever ready to help him. 



THE PURSUIT OP PIETY. 43 

Chapter 13. 

WE WOULD WISH THE ALMIGHTY TO DO ALL FOE US, AND TO 
GIVE US THE VICTORY WITHOUT ITS COSTING US ANYTHING: 
A PERNICIOUS ERROR, AN UNFAIR REQUEST, AND A COMMON 
CAUSE OF DISCOURAGEMENT. 

" I should be satisfied," say some of those who 
complain that their petitions are not granted, u if 
I experienced the effects of this merciful Provi- 
dence ; but I do not see that God helps me to be 
more faithful to my duties." To throw light upon 
this difficulty, let us consult the truths of religion 
which ought to direct our judgments. Let us 
walk in the light of Faith, which should illumine 
us; we shall be able to prove that if you are not 
more faithful to your duties, it is not because God 
is wanting with you, but that you are wanting to- 
wards God. 

According to religion, God w*ill not work out 
our salvation without our own concurrence. He 
created us, without our own co-operation, but He 
will not save us without it. He requires that our 
preference for Him, be the choice of our own free- 
will. He has therefore put before us good and 
evil ; life and death ; and He has said : " Choose 
which you will." To incline us to good, He gives 
us light to see the motives for* it ; love, gratitude 
and future reward. He excites in us many feel- 
ings, which cause us to love what is good, and to 



44 DESPONDENCY IN 

desire it. He thus forestalls us by His grace, and 
gives us aid in the hour of need. This is what 
God has promised us, and this He does. To cor- 
respond to all this, we must not lose sight of those 
motives and those feelings (which we too often do), 
but we must be imbued with them, we must pon- 
der them, and be engrossed with them ; and docile 
to the voice of the Holy Spirit, we must deny our- 
selves to follow His inspirations, for otherwise we 
can not do good, and obtain heaven. 

Would you have reason to complain of a friend, ■ 
who had given you wholesome advice to avoid an 
evil, but to whom you did not choose to listen, be- 
cause to follow his advice would have entailed some 
little trouble upon you? Would it not justly be 
said of you, that you had suffered through your 
own fault? And yet this is what we daily wit- 
ness. How frequently, fearing the labor we en- 
counter, in righting against our evil inclinations, we 
ask God to free us from them, but it would seem 
that the conditions are, that He is to do all, and it 
is to cost us nothing. We aspire to the miracle 
performed for a St. Paul. It seems as though we 
said: "If this inclination be displeasing to God, 
why does He not deliver me from it? Is He not 
able to do so ? Why does He not change the feel- 
ings of my heart; He has changed others in a mo- 
ment ?" Waiting for this miracle to be performed 
in our favor, we meanwhile do nothing ourselves, 
and do not heed the voice of God whispering to 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



45 



our sonl. Such dispositions as you must see. are 
not apt to draw down upon us the mercy of God. 

Whosoever expects to serve God without doing 
violence to himself, contradicts the words of Jesus 
Christ. Whosoever expects miracles to be per- 
formed in his favor, does not deserve to be heard 
at aft. 

Others, again, are free from such foolish pre- 
sumption, and are kept back in the path of virtue 
from their over anxiety about their difficulties, and 
from their deep conviction that they can in nothing 
obtain merit ; their whole mind is absorbed by 
this, and their only petition to God is to change 
their state. They hesitate to follow the lights and 
pious inclinations which God gives them, because 
not finding in themselves the particular graces 
which they are bent upon obtaining, and which 
they persist in asking for, they fear they are de- 
ceived. Thus the graces which they do receive, 
are rendered useless to them, either by their inat- 
tention to them, or by their opposition. Did they 
only profit by those graces, although not such as 
they asked for, they would soon obtain what they 
desire, but which they can not expect, so long as 
they resist God. 

Let us study the providence of God. and the 
economy of His grace, and we shall clearly discern 
the snare of the tempter, who joining error to a 
want of fidelity, causes the soul to fall into dis- 
couragement. 



46 DESPONDENCY IN 

(Stapler 14. 

DISCOURAGEMENT OCCURS BECAUSE "WE WILL NOT PROFIT BY THE 
ORDINARY AID WHICH IS WITHIN OUR REACH, BUT THROUGH 
A SLOTHFUL FEELING, WAIT FOR EXTRAORDINARY GRACES. 

It is always from want of instruction, or from in- 
attention to that which we have received, that we 
are led to form unreasonable expectations. God's 
providence in regard to man is of two kinds : The 
first, is extraordinary and miraculous, in which He 
displays the wonders of His power. The second, is 
common and ordinary, in which He acts, as our 
reason can perceive, by means proportionate to the' 
end which His wisdom proposes. The first is rare 
and passing. God employs it only for some espe- 
cial design, but man to whom these motives are 
unknown, w r ould be tempting God, were he to count 
on receiving it. 

There is no doubt that the Almighty can per- 
form miracles, but He has promised them to no one 
Therefore have we no reasonable right to expect 
them, either to help us in our wants or to guide us 
in our actions. If a man should refrain from 
making any effort to obtain the necessaries of life 
with the pretext that God can and does at times per- 
form miracles, he would surely be looked upon as 
a madman. And is it less contrary to all the es- 
tablished principles of the Gospel, to count upon a 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



47 



daily miracle in the order of Grace for the life of 
the soul ? 

The second kind of Providence is general, or- 
dinary and constant for all men. If the Almighty 
has at times made use of the first, with regard to 
some, in changing them all at once, He has after- 
wards made them return to the common order, and 
treated them as the rest of mankind. Witness St. 
Paul, who, after being raised to the third heaven, 
" brought his body wider subjection, lest he should 
become a reprobate." (1 Cor. ix, 27.) 

The common and ordinary providence of God 
leads us to the acquiring of virtue, and to a knowl- 
edge of the means which reason teaches us are ne- 
cessary to succeed in our undertaking; and to em- 
ploy them with the aid of religion, to the end for 
which man was created — God, and the happiness 
of possessing Him. 

If we wish to succeed in any art or science, that 
desire naturally leads us to study its first principles 
with assiduity, and to engrave them so profoundly 
in our minds that they may be always present to 
us, whenever we engage in that occupation or study, 
in which we seek to perfect ourselves. We care- 
fully avoid proceeding contrary to those principles, 
and should we fall into some mistake, instead of 
being discouraged, we redouble our efforts to repair 
it, as soon as possible. Look at the men who wish 
to succeed in their particular line — the artist, the 
professor, the magistrate ; you will find them aM 



48 



DESPONDENCY IN 



following the same path. — resisting the wearisome- 
ness of the first steps which are always tedious and 
repugnant, putting themselves to inconveniences, 
and overcoming the greatest difficulties. Such is 
the conduct of sensible men in all the affairs of 
life. They are incessantly occupied with them, and 
spare neither care nor trouble to succeed in them. 
Reason teaches the same truth to them all, and 
success justifies the wisdom of the means em- 
ployed. 

Such is also the ordinary providence of God 
for those who labor in the practice of virtue, and 
m the great affair of salvation — the means of suc- 
cess is the same; the motives- only, and the end 
are different. In the affairs of life, it is some 
earthly and perishable good that we seek, and 
human motives impel us. In religion, the good 
we seek is celestial and eternal, and our motives are 
superhuman. It is God who inspires the desire, 
and it is His grace that assists our efforts. 

God, then, wills us to desire the possession of 
eternal happiness ; to strive for it, as for the essen- 
tial end of our being ; to perform those good works 
which may insure its attainment; to avoid care- 
fully whatever may forfeit or endanger it. In 
short, He wishes us, in accordance with the dic- 
tates of true reason, supported by religious mo- 
tives, to spare neither trouble, nor pain, nor any 
heavenly means at our command, to succeed in this 
pursuit. Eternity is here at stake. 



THE PURSUIT OP PLETY. 



40 



The Almighty has chosen this order of Provi- 
dence, in preference to any other which He might 
have determined, because He is the author of na- 
ture as well as of grace. He wished, thereby, to 
commit man to the necessity of working for his 
final happiness, instead of resigning himself to a 
listless indolence, which would deprive him of all 
desire or esteem for a benefit, that he would expect 
solely from God, working without his co-operation. 
He wished to leave man without excuse, if he failed 
to do for an eternal good what he daily does for 
perishable ends, for a passing pleasure, and if he 
neglected the dictates of reason, in that where it 
most concerned him to follow them. 

It is thus that God, in His all-wise and merci- 
ful Providence, instead of making an open mani- 
festation of His power, offers his divine grace to 
His creatures, to lead them in the path of faith, 
hope and love. Those lights, those feelings and 
desires, teaching you what God requires of you 
and leading you to accomplish that will, come not 
from yourself but from God. He is the author of 
them, and it is He who suggests them to you, and 
the means whereby to elevate them, in order that 
they may attain their end, which is your eternal 
salvation. To refuse, therefore, these lights and 
inspirations, because they are not what we ask of 
God,, or for any other reason whatsoever, is to try 
to change the appointed order of His Providence, 
4 



50 



DESPONDENCY IN 



and to reach Heaven by a path different from the 
one He has marked out for us. 

What then must one do when tempted to dis- 
couragement ? Acting on the principle, that we 
should not willingly lose a present good because 
we cannot obtain another which we covet, until God 
once more visits us with consolations, we should 
submit ourselves to His holy will, follow with do- 
cility the graces wliich we receive, and avail our- 
selves with gratitude of the light which is accorded 
to us. We shall then always find, in the common 
and ordinary path of divine Providence, all that we 
need to sustain us in the practice of virtue. 

What justifies this principle of common pru- 
dence, and consecrates it in religious life, is that to 
follow this order of Providence, from which we 
should never swerve, it is not sufficient to avoid 
gross faults, if we neglect at the same time, if we 
omit or negligently practise the virtue which God 
asks of us, in the graces which He accords. The 
foolish virgins were excluded from the marriage 
feast because they were not found ready when the 
bridegroom was announced. ( Matt, xxv.) The 
slothful servant was condemned, because he had 
not profited by the talent his master had entrusted 
to him. That talent is time, which God gives us; 
it is grace, which we so often receive, and of which 
we too often avail ourselves as little as of the time 
which we so carelessly squander. These striking 
examples should make a slothful and tepid person 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



51 



enter into himself, and adhering to the order of 
Providence designed for hini, endeavor to profit by 
the light and grace which are given for his sancti- 
fies t ion. 

Do not look upon this as mere human reason- 
ing, it is what Christ teaches in His gospel, where 
He recommends vigilance and prayer, the renuncia- 
tion of desires which are contrary to the will of 
God, care to avoid evil, and to flee from tempta- 
tion. Hence, those Saints and Fathers of the 
Church, who. enlightened by the Spirit of God, 
have given rules for conducting souls to perfection, 
do not prescribe anything extraordinary. They 
are content to point out ordinary means, frequent 
prayer, spiritual reading, repeated examination of 
the conscience to ascertain and correct our faults, 
silence, which favors our union w T ith God, and 
prevents dissipation, so fatal to the one whom it 
withdraws from God, that neglecting Him, he may 
follow, as his only guide, his evil desires and in- 
clinations. 

The more you examine these means, the more 
shall you find them conformable, not only to the 
gospel, but to reason. No matter how great may 
be our dryness, weariness, disgust and temptations, 
we can always make use of these means, which 
God will always strengthen by His grace, if we 
have recourse to Him with confidence. 



52 



DESPONDENCY IN 



0 (£\)aytex 15. 

IT IS FALSE AND DANGEROUS, TO THINK THAT TTE CAN DO NO- 
THING TO RESIST CERTAIN INCLINATIONS AND HABITS WHICH 
OVERCOME US. 

One of the illusions by which the devil casts some 
souls into despondency, or confirms them therein, 
is this, that certain of her inclinations and habits 
are so strongly rooted that they cannot overcome 
them. If you propose remedies for their correc- 
tion, they will be so reluctant to adopt them as to 
declare, that it is out of their power, that it is 
utterly useless to make the attempt. Whilst in 
this disposition the lights and inspirations sent to 
them from Heaven, are rendered of no avail by 
their negligence or their resistance. 

This is the excuse, but the real truth is, that they 
are unwilling to employ that violence against them- 
selves which is necessary for their amendment. 
They do not ask of God the grace which they 
require, with a sincere desire of receiving it. They 
never go to the source of their difficulties, in order 
to apply the remedy which reason and religion pre- 
scribe. They seek to quiet their conscience by the 
assurance that they can do nothing to help them- 
selves, and they indulge their inclination in a secu- 
rity which is highly prejudicial. At times, alarmed 
by their dangerous condition, they take a spasmo- 
dic resolution of returning to God, but because 



THE PURSUIT OP PIETY. 



53 



they do not go to the root of the evil, and are 
averse to all painful exertion, they quickly tire of 
struggling against temptations, which continually 
beset them, and, at the first failure, resign them- 
selves again to the conclusion that it is beyond 
their strength. Despondency once more gains 
possession, and they abandon even the wish to 
strive for victory. 

This temptation is very dangerous, since it 
leads to a neglect of God and of final salvation. 
A soul so averse to all exertion, gives herself up 
to dissipation of mind and heart, so as to escape 
the sting of conscience, and to shut out the light 
which God, in His mercy, still grants to her, and 
which disturbs the false security in which she loves 
to dwell. 

The greatest danger of this state is, that we 
scarcely dare pray for our conversion, forgetful that 
God is still full of goodness and mercy, and desires 
our salvation far more than we ourselves do. We 
forget His almighty power, who can, even then, de- 
fend and sustain us, and who will ever be faithful 
to His promise to succor those who appeal to Him 
with confidence. Unmindful of these truths, we 
forsake prayer, or engaging in it with the convic- 
tion that we shall not succeed, we voluntarily 
neglect that recollection, and stifle that hope which 
would render it efficacious. 

It is singular, that a person instructed in the 
truths of religion should be caught in this snare. 



54 



DESPONDENCY IN 



Are we not taught, by revelation, that God does 
not command impossible things, nor punish us for 
that which we had not the power to avoid ? God, 
it is true, commands a perfection which is beyond 
the strength of unassjsted nature, but which, with 
the help of grace, has been practised, and is yet 
being practised by thousands like ourselves. He 
promises to assist us, as He- has aided them, if, like 
them, we invoke Him with confidence, and if, like 
them, we employ those means to which He has at- 
tached the victory. u Why;" says St. Augustin, 
" can you not do that which so many others were 
able to do ? Why can you not do that which so 
many have done, and are doing, with no more help 
than what God offers to you ? " And elsewhere, 
the same holy doctor tells us to do that which is 
in our power, and to ask for that which is not, that 
we may be able to do it. 

It is contrary, then, to the principles of reli- 
gion, to say that it is impossible for you to over- 
come yourself with the assistance of those graces 
promised to you, if confidently solicited, and the 
use of those means indicated to you by divine 
Providence. 

You say that you do employ these means, 
but that you are discouraged at seeing that, in 
spite of all your endeavors, you make no progress. 
You complain that, after all your attention, and 
efforts, and struggles, you find the same inclina- 
tions rising again within you, and almost as strong 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



55 



as ever. And should you wonder at this? Can 
you free yourself in a few days from an inclination 
which is natural to you, or from a habit which 
j-our negligence has fostered ? Besides, you should 
not judge of the progress which you are making 
in grace, by the continuance or diminution of the 
inclination which you wish to correct, but rather 
by the mastery which you are acquiring over it, in 
avoiding the faults into which you generally fall. 
This inclination, even though it continues to make 
itself felt, is not a sin. It is an exercise of your 
virtue ; by resisting it you are meriting Heaven. 

But every one knows, that the stronger the pas- 
sion, and the older the habit, the greater must be 
our attention and vigilance over ourselves, and the 
greater our care, to neglect no means which may 
lie in our power to overcome it. Why is it that 
you cannot do to-day, what you could do yester- 
day? The reason is not very hard to find. Yes- 
terday, absorbed in God, and animated by the de- 
sire of pleasing Him, you did violence to yourself, 
that you might follow His guidance and use the 
means which His prudence has provided, and to 
which He has attached His graces. To-day, tired 
of the combat, and forgetful of God, you desert 
the path marked out by His Providence, in order 
to indulge your sloth. It is your negligence which 
has given rise to this change of feeling. Return 
to your former disposition, and you will persevere 
in the practice of virtue. 



56 



DESPONDENCY IN 



Finally, why should you be discouraged and 
give up every thing, because you have relapsed 
into your old faults ? That would be to throw 
away your whole fortune because you have lost a 
part. The whole world would cry out at such 
folly, where temporal wealth is concerned. These 
falls make known to you your weakness. If you 
reflect, as a reasonable creature and a Christian, 
you would be led at once to repair the damage 
which they have occasioned, and to guard yourself 
carefully against what may ensue, by an increase of 
confidence, of prayer, and of vigilance in avoiding 
all dangerous occasions. It is contrary to common 
sense to resolve to commit a hundred sins, by 
throwing away the means to avoid them, because, 
forsooth, you have fallen into one. which, being 
repaired by contrition, would cease to offer any ob- 
stacle to your sanctification. 

Whilst we are satisfied that this reasoning is 
based on principles which cannot be denied, we 
still refuse to be convinced, because we are angry 
at our own weakness, and wounded in our self- 
esteem ; we cannot bear the sight of our own hu- 
miliation. Dissipation alone can remove these 
disagreeable objects, and so we abandon ourselves 
to it in order to escape from 'ourselves. This im- 
patience at the sight of our faults is a dangerous 
temptation. You should always resist it, and over- 
come it by humbly acknowledging your sin before 
God. Your sorrow may indeed be a salutary feel- 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



.57 



ing, which you can recognize in its effects. That 
which comes from God is humble, calm, and tran- 
quil, and moves us to repair our fault, and return 
at once to God. If it has not these marks, if it is 
attended with anxiety, discouragement, a turning 
away from God, and from pious practices, then it 
is a temptation and a snare, and should not he 
indulged. Lift your mind and heart to God with 
contidence, and peace and order will soon be re-es- 
tablished in your soul. God does not dwell in 
disorder, He is not to be found there. 



OUR SPIRITUAL EXERCISES A CAUSE OF REPUGNANCE, BECAUSE 
W E FALSELY THINK THEM USELESS, OR THE OCCASIONS OF 
NET FAULTS. 

It would seem that when this spirit of despond- 
ency takes possession of the soul, it deprives it of 
all light, and of all power of reflection. It seems 
Especially bent on destroying the spirit of prayer, 
thereby exposing the soul to imminent danger of 
final loss. For, it is certain that we can not save our- 
selves without the assistance of grace, nor can we 
obtain that assistance without persevering in sincere 
and frequent prayer. Nothing is more highly re- 
commended to us in spiritual books, than this means, 



53 



DESPONDENCY IN 



the source of all the others which God inspires us 
to employ. 

There are those who regard this holy exercise 
as useless for them, because, through their habitual 
negligence, they enter on it with the conviction that 
they will perform it badly, and with their accus- 
tomed indifference. This is the first thought that 
presents itself to their mind, and. so far from re- 
sisting it as a Christian should, they grant it full 
admission. 

In this disposition they enter on their prayer 
without confidence, with no will to offer God the 
homage which is due to Him, with no sense of His 
presence, with no interior preparation, and with no 
effort to free themselves from a dissipation which 
has taken entire possession of mind and heart, to 
the exclusion of all thoughts of God, and their sal- 
vation. 

It is very certain that a prayer can not be meri- 
torious which is destitute of those essential quali- 
ties which God requires in it, that it may be heard ; 
and confidence is the first of those qualities. St. 
James says that he who prays should not hesitate, 
11 for he who icavercth is like a toave of the sea, which 
is driven and carried about by the icind. Therefore, 
lei not that man think that he icill receive anything 
of the Lord:' (St. Jam. i, 6, 7.) Still less shall 
he be heard, who does not merely hesitate, but 
ceases to hope for anything. Such persons, not at- 
tempting to overcome themselves, are only occupied 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



59 



with useless thoughts; they are so indifferent that 
they do not even reflection the action in which 
they are engaged, and scarcely remember that they 
are praying. And if the action is one of obliga- 
tion, as in hearing mass on Sundays, or holidays of 
obligation, or in reading the office, or in the recep- 
tion of the sacrament, they fail in an essential duty 
with scarcely any self-reproach, thus giving rise to 
conscientious doubts concerning sacraments which 
they have approached without intention of amend- 
ment. 

It is your personal experience, you say, that 
convinces you that you will continue to fail in 
prayer, notwithstanding all your good resolutions. 
But whence comes this experience? Let us exam- 
ine into the first source of this negligence, which 
persists in spite of all your resolutions. Do you 
pretend that those resolves, which are frequently 
the creatures of the imagination, rather than of the 
will, should guard and protect you against your evil 
inclinations, without your taking any precaution to 
defend yourself against their solicitations, without 
your striving to overcome them, and whilst you are 
voluntarily abandoning yourself to their impulses? 

You are all day occupied in natural gratifica- 
tions and frivolous amusements, intent on seeing and 
hearing all that is said and done, losing no oppor- 
tunity for useless conversations, listening to any 
evil report against your neighbor, entering into his 
bickerings, blaming some, censuring others on re- 



60 DESPONDENCY IN 

ports which are often destitute of all foundation, 
giving way, on the least occasion, to feelings of 
jealousy and prejudice, always distracted, occupied 
with the actions and interests of others, without a 
thought for yourself, your eternal interests, and 
your salvation, prolonging this dissipation of mind 
and heart to the very beginning of your prayers, to 
which you hurry at the very last moment, and 
without stopping to reflect for an instant on what 
you are going to do ; and you imagine that all this 
distraction and dissipation will suddenly disappear, 
and that recollection and devotion will as suddenly 
replace them, calm the tumult of your passions, and 
reawaken at once in your heart sentiments of faith, 
and piety, and love. In good sooth now, do you 
really expect such a miracle? 

You have scarcely once thought of God during 
the day, you have not had towards Him those sen- 
timents which are His due, you have shut your 
eyes to the light which He gave you, His graces 
you have neglected and rejected, that you might 
not be forced to look into yourself, and scrutinize 
your actions and their motives. And would you 
flatter yourself that in such a disposition, so want- 
ing in fidelity, your past resolves will be sufficient 
to beget anew that confidence in Him, that tender 
love, and pious recollection, which are required for 
the holy exercise of prayer ? Do you suppose that 
your thoughts unrestrained and wandering through- 
out the day, will suddenly fix and concentrate 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



61 



themselves on God, withdraw themselves from so 
many objects to which they were chained, in order 
to dwell on subjects salutary, but, to the tepid soul, 
uninteresting? 

This would be a miserable illusion, which reason 
herself points out, and which Religion loudly con- 
demns. It would be contrary to the wisdom of 
Divine Providence, which wills to conduct us to 
heaven by means which shall be proportional to 
the end, by a desire for salvation, by meditating on 
the best path to pursue, by watching over ourselves 
so as to avoid whatever may imperil our salvation, 
and by the practice of those virtues which render it 
secure. It would be opposed to the teaching of 
Jesus Christ, in His Holy Gospel, where He incul- 
cates so earnestly, recollection, observation, morti- 
tification, and earnestness in prayer. Judge now 
of what would be the consequences and result of 
your conduct, and of the extent of the illusion to 
which you are given over. 

From this state there is no escape, except in 
undeceiving yourself on this point, and in making 
your resolutions more comprehensive. 

When, entering into ourselves, we recognize that 
the measures we have adopted, have so far produced 
no effect, or but a passing one at most, must we on 
that account be depressed, and give way to the 
thought that we shall never succeed ? By no 
means, since it would be unreasonable in one, who 
knows what God can and will do for the soul that 



62 



DESPONDENCY TN 



hopes in Him. and sincerely tries to be faithful in 
His service. What we should think is this, that 
we have adopted means and methods which were in- 
sufficient, .and that we must select others which 
shall be more efficacious. Since by the result we 
recognize our want of success, we must search into 
the cause of our defeat. For, reason tells us that 
so long as the cause remains, the effect, suspended 
for a while, will be sure to return, and all the 
stronger, perhaps, that it has been resisted and re- 
strained. Religion teaches us, moreover, that to 
cherish the cause when we have it in our power to 
remove it, is to remain willingly in the danger, and 
to expose ourselves to fall. 

Now, in the" case which we have supposed, the 
cause of all this difficulty in prayer, is generally 
speaking, dissipation of mind throughout the day, 
forgetfulness of G#d, and of our salvation. ^Ye 
live, so to speak, at hap-hazard ; we perform our 
actions without any definite object or aim, with no 
religious motive, and without any reference to God. 
Such aims as we have, are human, founded only in 
nature, and but too often frivolous ; we seek a sat- 
isfaction which is simply worthless, and our actions 
correspond to the lowness of our aims. 

According to the teachings of Religion, our 
tendency should be towards the renunciation of 
self, the mortification of the spirit, of the will, and 
and of the senses, a contempt for all those petty 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



63 



interests which the children of the world pursue 
with so much ardor. 

Our actions should be prompted by motives 
which have, or may be made to have, some relation 
to God. We are here on earth, only to promote 
His glory, and everything which we do, should 
tend to this end. If God be not at the beginning 
and end of all our actions, if they are not accom- 
panied by a pious intention, they do not contribute 
to our real happiness — they are useless. 

Do you sincerely desire to rise from this state 
of tepidity and sloth, and to pray more easily, more 
piously, and with more fruit ? Then, in the spirit 
of Faith, and in conformity with its truths, direct 
your resolutions to the maxims which I offer you. 
A forgetfulness of these truths was the cause of 
your evil, their application will be the remedy. 
Intent on your salvation, which you will then re- 
gard as your most important concern, you will be 
attentive to the lights and inspirations which God 
will communicate. Knowing the importance of 
those graces, you will no more neglect them, you 
will not give yourself up to dissipation in order to 
avoid them, you will thank God for them, you will 
cherish them, and co-operate with them faithfully. 

These Christian subjects taking the place of 
your distracted fancies, will guard you from useless 
pre-occupation before the time of prayer, and will 
aid. you when engaged in the necessary duties of 
your state, to recollect yourself when presenting 



64 



DESPONDENCY IN 



yourself before God. You will conform yourself 
to the order of Providence by your anxiety to make 
use of the means which God has appointed, you 
will there find an increase of grace. More intent 
on your relations to God, and to final salvation, you 
will walk with constancy, supported by grace, in 
the path of virtue, which leads to eternal happi- 
ness, from which you were withdrawn by your for- 
mer conduct. 

When once we have recognized this maxim, 
that to conquer our faults, we must attack them at 
the source, we should apply it on all occasions. 
Besides that dissipation of mind which leads 
us to omit our duties, or to perform them but im- 
perfectly, there are other passions not so extensive 
in their consequences, which lead us into faults so 
frequently, as to discourage the unfaithful soul. 
These passions have all, for their parent, a self- 
love which we do not repress. It may be a preju- 
dice, which induces us to undervalue the good 
qualities, and to exaggerate the least defects of an 
acquaintance, or such an attachment to our own 
will and judgment, that we would force the whole 
world to our own opinion ; or, again, a restlessness 
of disposition that leads us to meddle with every- 
thing, and fix ourselves in nothing, or a haughti- 
ness, a vain self-esteem, which resents the least 
slight, and would see the whole world at our feet ; 
or — but who can enumerate all the passions of the 
human heart? 



THE PURSUIT OP PIETY. 



65 



This we do know, that whatever the passion 
may be, that, in its undue ascendency, leads us to 
discouragement, we should at once set ourselves to 
work to destroy it, or at least to combat it without 
ceasing. An earnest desire for our salvation, to 
which it is an obstacle, frequent prayer, pious medi- 
tations on the maxims of the Gospel, the life of 
Jesus Christ, and of His Saints, these are means 
which Providence has provided us to stifle our pas- 
sions, or so to weaken them, that they need not 
give us cause for fear. These means, when em- 
ployed in the name of the Lord, are certain in their 
effect agreeably to His promise. Then, nothing is 
impossible, and nothing is useless. In the love 
which we conceive for our God, everything will 
turn to our good. 

Behold the way "laid open to you, the means 
that are given to your hand. If you do not 
succeed, it is your own fault, it is on account of 
your resistance to divine grace. Do not reproach. 
God, but blame yourself alone. 



66 DESPONDENCY IN 

(Siij a#tzx 17. 

IMPERFECT MOTIVES, JOINING- THEMSELVES TO AN INTENTION 
OTHERWISE PURE, ARE ANOTHER SOURCE OF DISCOURAGE- 
MENT. 

The necessity of acting in accordance with the di- 
vine will, so as to be pleasing to God, and deserv- 
ing of man, is readily acknowledged ; but many a 
one is held back from practising this salutary ex- 
ercise, because when they are trying to direct their 
intention, the evil spirit, or their imagination in- 
sinuates other motives drawn from reason, self-love, 
human respect, or inclination. Notwithstanding, 
then, the offering which they are making to God, 
they are led to suspect that it is not for Him they 
act, but for their own satisfaction. The impression 
made by the natural motive is so vivid, and that 
made by the supernatural, seems so feeble, that 
judging the intention according to the sensi- 
bility of the impression, they decide that they are 
not performing the action for God's sake, and that 
it is therefore useless to offer it up to Him. They 
thus resign themselves to the merely human motives 
by which they are influenced. Discouraged by this 
temptation, which becomes more and more frequent, 
they no longer think of offering up anything to 
God, and become at once the dupe, and the victim 
of the father of lies, and of their own unfortunate 
illusion. 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



67 



To correct our notions on this subject, we have 
only to consider that our human rmotives cause this 
vivid impression, not so much by their strength, as 
by the fact, that being in entire conformity with 
our nature and inclinations, we need no exterior 
help to enable us to understand and enjoy whatever 
they contain fur our gratification, and because they 
find nothing in us to counteract the impressions 
which they excite. Supernatural motives, on the 
contrary, can not influence so sensibly, because, 
being beyond nature, and opposed to our own incli- 
nations, we have need of God's help to overcome our 
rebellious passions, to appreciate their supernatural 
views, and to comprehend the advantages they pre- 
sent. 

This help, which God always affords to those 
who pray for it with confidence, sometimes excites 
an impression equally sensible ; but it is not always 
the case, for God is our sovereign Lord, and He 
imparts His gifts to His creatures according to His 
own will and merciful designs. His assistance al- 
ways enables us to resist, if we wish it, the temp- 
tation that would withdraw us from Him, and if 
the sensible feeling of that assistance is consoling, 
it is never necessary, and not always useful. Even 
in worldly and temporal affairs we do not take, as 
safe guides, sentiments and feelings however vivid, 
which are opposed to reasons solid and convincing. 

To judge, therefore, between contradictory mo- 
tives for action, we should not be influenced by the 



68 



DESPONDENCY IN 



vividness of their impressions. We should con- 
sider the motives in themselves, compare their ad- 
vantages and disadvantages, and then come to a de- 
cision, choosing those only in which we recognize 
a true and solid good. In this judgment we re- 
nounce all wrong motives, which we condemn, but 
as for those which are merely human and indiffer- 
ent, we do not dwell upon them, we pass them by. 
With a will that disregards sensible impressions, 
we adhere to these supernatural motives which our 
sober judgment has pronounced to be good, and 
productive of our true happiness. 

But you will tell me that it seems to you, on 
many occasions, as if your decision would have 
been precisely the same, whether you had God in 
view or not. Both my reason and my inclination, 
you will say, lead me to this course, and out of 
pure friendship I do what I would not do for all 
the world beside. In such cases have I not good 
reason to fear that my real motives are merely 
natural ? 

In snch cases, especially if we give way to our 
imagination, I grant that we may be lead to doubt 
how far the supernatural motive influences our ac- 
tion. But even then, if we calmly resume the 
judgment which proclaimed its superiority and de- 
clared the relation which the action has to God, 
there can be no longer any doubt what part this 
relation should have in our conduct^ That, delib- 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



69 



erately adopted by the will, makes over the action 
wholly to God. 

For God is, after all, the author of our intel- 
lect, and its suggestions, therefore, cannot, of them- 
selves, vitiate the action. It is not opposed to the 
supernatural motive of doing the will of God, on 
the contrary, it agrees with it ; why, then, should 
we think it necessary, in order to please God, to 
renounce the reason which He Himself has given ? 
The less so, since it is often God that moves it, 
making use of that means to lead us to the prac- 
tice of virtue. 

All that we have to do, then, is to elevate this 
motive, by directing it to God ; withdrawing it 
from the natural order, to place it, with the assist- 
ance of grace, in the supernatural order, by direct- 
ing it to Heaven. 

When our human motives contain nothing op- 
posed to virtue, we both can and should offer to 
God the actions to which they lead. For instance, 
when, after rising early, and fasting for many 
hours, you are about to partake of your morning 
meal ; when, after a whole morning spent in silence 
and recollection, you are about to take some recre- 
ation ; when, after a hard day's work, you are 
going to seek repose, are there not many natural 
reasons that induce you to these same actions ? 
And should these reasons, which are founded in 
nature, prevent you from offering the action to 



70 



DESPONDENCY IN 



God, and from elevating and sanctifying it by this 
voluntary intention ? 

Surely St. Paul was not ignorant of the human 
motives that induce us to take food, and yet he ex- 
horts us to do it for the glory of God : u Whether 
you eat or whether you drink, or whatsoever else you 
Jo, do it in the name of the Lord" evidently not 
deeming the natural incompatible with the super- 
natural motive. They do not even necessarily 
make the action imperfect, because they are not, in 
themselves, opposed to any virtue. And that which 
we do for the sake of a friend comes under the same 
principle. We frequently do things for our neigh- 
bor which God neither commands nor forbids. 
But if we do them, He wishes us to offer them up 
for His glory, as the end to which all our actions 
should tend. 

But the pretexts for discouragement and des- 
pondency are innumerable. I feel, you will say, 
that if these natural reasons did not impel me, I 
would not perform this action, which nevertheless 
I know that God requires of me. 

Why trouble yourself with this thought, which 
is nothing but a temptation ? Do you believe it to 
be just and well founded? We are not inquiring 
now, what you would do if these natural reasons 
did not exist. It is always dangerous, as I have 
before said, to suppose yourself in circumstances 
in which God has not placed you. Banish this 
thought, it is only a snare of the tempter, who 



THE PURSUIT OP PIETY. 



71 



wishes to discourage you, and to prevent you from 
doing a present good, by the fear of a future and 
uncertain evil. There is question now only of 
performing well the action in which we are en- 
gaged, by following the method which Religion 
prescribes. Apply yourself to calm reflection on the 
soundness of your present motives, with the firm 
confidence that, under different circumstances, if 
God permits them, He will also, according to His 
merciful promise, grant you graces proportioned 
to your trials. Would you yourself suggest such 
doubts to a person of a gentle and amiable charac- 
ter, serving God with ease and facility, and who 
should be troubled with the fear of "not continuing 
in His service with the same courage, in case her 
character should suddenly become quick and pas- 
sionate ? 

Among the motives which may influence us in 
the performance of works, good in themselves, 
there are some which are bad, because contrary to 
Christian virtue; those we must renounce, for they 
render our actions vicious. I have often noticed 
certain persons greatly troubled when they were 
trying to avoid giving scandal, because they feared 
they were acting through human respect. They 
did not understand the meaning of the words, and 
confounded ideas which are very different among 
them -elves. To give good example is not acting 
, u-h human respect. The former motive has 
u r ard to the honor and glory of God, which we 



72 



DESPONDENCY IN 



try to promote by not giving occasion to scandal. 
This motive leads us directly towards God ; it is 
good and praiseworthy. Bad example is expressly 
forbidden ; it is the scandal so distinctly denounced 
in the Gospel. In condemning the one, Jesus 
Christ commands the other : " So let your, light 
shine before men, that they may see your good icorlcs, 
and glorify your Father icho is in Heaven." (Matt. 
v, 16). He wishes us to animate them by our ex- 
ample. 

Where there is human respect, on the contrary, 
there is no thought of God, but all is love of self. 
We seek to please those whose judgment we fear, 
whose esteem 'we covet, or whose censure we de- 
precate. Human respect leads us to bad, as read- 
ily as to good actions, according to the disposition 
of those whom we seek to gain, and that, too, in 
opposition, very often, to our own tastes and feel- 
ings. 

These two feelings, then, are clearly different, 
and easily distinguishable. It would not be amiss 
if the former were a little more cultivated, espe- 
cially in certain religious families and communities, 
where irregularities and bad examples are weaken- 
ing o-ood rules and customs. 

What chiefly frightens you in these human mo- 
tives, is that, in their absence, your action differs 
somewhat from that in which they second you. In 
order to decide on the reasonableness of your fears, 
you have only to examine your disposition under 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



73 



these different circumstances. Does your perse- 
verance depend exclusively on the presence of these 
'motives ? Then indeed have you reason to fear. 
But if it depends on some other cause, you have 
no reason for alarm. 

When you are closely united to God in devo- 
tion, your mind and heart unagitated by passion, 
when you feel His presence sensibly, you do not 
need the support of these imperfect motives to en- 
able you to resist your inclinations, or to perform 
some work of supererogation ; or you renounce 
them when you perceive that they are of such a 
kind as to be rejected, andif not, then you elevate 
them by directing them to God. This is a proof 
that they are not the sole motives of your conduct. 

It is true, that whilst you are living in dissipa- 
tion of mind, and in a forgetfulness of God, you 
have some grounds to fear lest your actions should 
be solely prompted by natural feelings, or even by 
passion. But this does not justify your fear that 
such is always the case, since it proceeds only from 
the dissipation in which you are living, which 
causes you to forget the God to whom you pertain, 
the salvation for which you should strive, and the 
grace which you receive, but to neglect. It is an 
error to suppose, that what sways us in one set of 
circumstances, rales us also in all the situations in 
which we find ourselves. Our thoughts and feel- 
ings, in a state of recollection, are very different 

1 i. ' 



DESPONDENCY IN 



from what they are when we are dissipated. Your 
fear is then unfounded, and you should not listen 
to it. 

Moreover, why should you be alarmed because 
the motives which spring from reason, and from the 
natural virtues of friendship, gratitude, compas- 
sion, etc., precede in your mind and heart the 
direct recognition of God ? I have already re- 
remarked, that sensible objects naturally excite 
corresponding sentiments : and that natural virtues 
come also from God, and are not opposed to those 
which Religion inspires and commands. They 
often serve to introduce these latter more easily 
into our heart. They create in us a disposition 
which, so far from opposing the tendency of vir- 
tue, causes us to practise it more willingly and 
easily. Hence, we are not obliged to repress or to 
renounce them, we have only to perfect them by 
directing them to Heaven, according to the princi- 
ples of Religion. And, in such a case, is it harder 
for us to direct our attention to the honor and 
glory of God, and the accomplishment of His 
divine will ? On the contrary, it is easier. 

You should console yourself, and encourage 
yourself to perseverance, by the reflection that 
grace is a light given to us by God, that we may 
recognize supernatural good, an inspiration to em- 
brace it. It acts within us without our perceiving 
it, and affords no certain sign of its presence. As 
we hope for it, so we must presume that ws possess 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



75 



it, after having prayed for it with confidence. We 
must then act as if we were assured of its posses- 
sion, although we cannot be absolutely certain, 
since no one knows whether he be worthy of love 
or hatred. 

From this method of God's influence within us, 
it follows that we may easily mistake for an opera- 
tion of our own faculties, that which is in truth 
the effect of His grace, which enlighteus us, and 
gives us sentiments that reason approves, and inspi- 
rations which lead us to the practice of virtue. So 
that what we hold to be merely natural, the fruit of 
our sagacity, or of our natural goodness of heart, 
is really the effect of a supernatural assistance which 
God imparts. 

If, then, to obey the precept which calls upon 
you to direct every thing to God, you offer Him 
your actions, nothing will be wanting that you 
should obtain the recompense which He has prom- 
ised. Your actions will be performed for God 
through the help of His grace ; He will be their 
source, their end, and their reward. You will not 
be making a mistake then, when you offer them to 
Him, since you obey a law which He has revealed, 
and, in not doing so, you would render them use- 
less, since they would not be performed with the 
view of pleasing Him. You do it according to the 
light which God has given you to follow, and you 
do not mock Him, when you do that which He 
inspires. 



76 



DESPONDENCY IN 



IT IS AN ERROR TO SUPPOSE THAT WE SHOULD NOT OFFER OUR 
ACTIONS TO GOD, BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOT THAT PERFECTION 
WHICH WE DESIRE, OR THINK NECESSARY. 

You tell me that you dare not offer your actions to 
God, because you have conceived so great an idea 
of the perfection which is required in an action be- 
fore it can be worthy to be offered up to His divine 
majesty and infinite sanctity, whilst, at the same 
time, you do not perceive in yourself a determina- 
tion to attain that perfection. You are led to sup- 
pose, that unless your actions are possessed of this 
perfection, they cannot please Him, and must ne- 
cessarily be rejected. Influenced by this illusion, 
you offer up little or nothing to the Lord, and, 
losing sight of Him, you follow only your own 
inclinations ; and because you are not disposed to 
conquer yourself in every thing, you conquer your- 
self in nothing. 

Such a principle leads to nothing less than en- 
tire abandonment of heavenly things. Who will 
put himself to any trouble to please and glorify 
God, when he believes that God will reject his 
works unless they come invested with all that per- 
fection which the saints are held to have practised? 

This is the time to follow' the advice of St. Au- 
gustine : " Do all that is in your power, and ask 
for that which is not, that you may be able to do 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



77 



it." This great Saint differed very much from 
you, when he thus addressed his flock. It was be- 
cause he remembered that God, our loving and 
merciful Father, knows perfectly well of what 
leaven we are made, always comes to our help, and 
assists us in proportion to our confidence. 

No one is made perfect in a day.. Acording to 
the plan of divine Providence, ,we grow in the sci- 
ence of salvation through the use of grace, as in 
natural sciences, by reducing the principles to prac- 
tice. This practice becomes more perfect in pro- 
portion to its frequency, and the attention it re- 
ceives. To an artist, who would not practise his 
art ; to an orator, refusing to make a discourse, 
because they cannot equal the great masters of old, 
we should infallibly predict a total and inevitable 
failure. It is not enough to be acquainted with 
principles, we must apply them correctly. Exer- 
cise gradually develops talent. We must make 
many a daub before we produce a good painting. 
Persevering industry alone can correct the imper- 
fections which we recognize in our work ; experi- 
ence proves this too conclusively to admit of a 
doubt. It is by reflecting on our faults that we 
learn to avoid them, and this we can do only by 
losing no time, setting ourselves resolutely to work, 
and not resting satisfied with idle theorizing. 

In the science of the Saints, and in the practice 
of virtue, we need, beside industry and persever- 
ance, particular assistance from God. If we desire 



78 



DESPONDENCY IN 



to please Him, we shall frequently ask His help, 
as the student has recourse to his master, but the 
principle remains the same. We shall never be- 
come perfect by a mere acquaintance with our 
rules, but by their application to our conduct. If 
we do not bring them to practice, we shall never 
attain perfection. I grant that in offering up our 
actions to God, we do not as yet make them perfect, 
but at least we divest them of many defects, and 
render them less imperfect in His sight. The sac- 
rifice which we make to God in removing these 
faults will prove beneficial, both by the habit which 
we thus contract of overcoming ourselves, and by 
the graces with which the Holy Ghost will reward 
our docility to His inspirations. 

Do then, whatever you can, and ask with confi- 
dence for what is beyond your power. 

A person of quick temper, strongly attached to 
his own will and judgment, in his intercourse with 
others, will yield twenty times a day to the impa- 
tience and impetuousness of his character ; nothing 
will restrain him but the thought that he should 
refer all his actions to Grod. This reflection, if he 
tries to entertain it, will sustain him, at least in 
ordinary occasions, and if at other times it fails of 
complete success, it will certainly moderate the 
outbreak, and prevent many things which charity 
condemns. If, on the other hand, it has no effect 
at all, he must ask pardon for having resisted divine 
grace. The fault itself may serve for his improve- 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



,79 



ment by humbling him before our Lord, and by the 
salutary reflections which he will take occasion to 
make on his quick temper, when, having entered 
irto himself, he asks God pardon for his sin. 

What we have here said in respect to impatience, 
may be equally well applied to everything else that 
renders our actions imperfect. 

It is a fact, proved by experience, that we al- 
ways derive benefit from this deliberate reference 
of our actions to God. The thought, " I will do 
this for the love of God," can not fail to make a 
salutary impression, to excite us to avoid the de- 
fects which creep into our best actions, and to sus- 
tain us in our interior struggles. If we are ever so 
little attentive to this practice, we shall see that 
our actions become less defective, and daily grow 
in perfection through the graces which we receive. 

God always rewards the good will which we 
display in making use of the means which He has 
given for our sanctification. Walk he/ore Me and 
he thou perfect" said He to Abraham. (Gen. xvii, 
1.) To walk in the presence of God, is to refer all 
our actions to Him. 

But, you will say, when I offer up to God ac- 
tions into which many imperfections, and even 
faults will necessarily enter, can I flatter myself 
that in spite of these, they will be accepted by 
Him and meet with reward ? 

I take for granted that notwithstanding the 
doubt, which arises from ignorance, you do not de- 



DESPONDENCY IN 



liberately intend to commit those faults which you 
foresee, and dread. If in the course of the action 
you become weak, slothful, tepid and negligent, 
God will certainly reproach you for your negligence, 
and for your faults, but it will be as a tender father 
who pities your weakness. His reproaches will 
animate you to resist the sloth to which 3*011 have 
yielded, and in the infinite mercy with which He 
treats us, He will welcome the good will which you 
displayed, although the execution proved so im- 
perfect. 

A Christian then, humbly recognizes his weak- 
ness and inconstancy, renews his confidence and 
love, and redoubles his prayers in the hope that 
God will give him more grace to be faithful in fu- 
ture. He will be very far from rejecting the means 
of correcting himself. Let us repeat it again and 
again, he must do what he can. he must ask for 
what is not in his power, in the firm conviction that 
this means, which God has given him, if it fail to- 
day, will succeed to-morrow, or the next day, or the 
next week — but will certainly succeed, if he only 
persevere in its use. 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



81 



C!)Ci;pUr 10. 

A. LOSS OF SENSIBLE DEVOTION, AN UNJUSTIFIABLE CAUSE OF 
DESPONDENCY. 

When, by a particular disposition of Divine Pro- 
vidence, we have been favored for some time with 
sensible devotion, we are apt to yield to a despond- 
ency which we think well founded, when God 
changes in our regard, and ceases to visit us with 
consolations. A little reflection would secure us 
from this illusion. 

It is not acting the part of a Christian, to yield 
to discouragement or despondency for such a cause. 
Is it for the sake of this spiritual sweetness, this 
sensible consolation, that we serve G-od? Does God 
deserve nothing from us on His own account alone ? 
Are not the enjoyment of God, and of the eternal 
reward which He has promised to those who per- 
severe, sufficient to sustain us? If not, and we are 
forced to acknowledge the sad truth, we should 
thank God for withdrawing His sensible graces; for 
we should have cause to fear that in serving Him, 
we were only seeking ourselves, forgetful of that 
glory which He requires at our hands. 

If we fail in our resolutions under such circum- 
stances, it is because, losing sight of God, and 
being no longer attracted by sensible consolations, 
we do not exercise ourselves sufficiently in acts of 
faith, hope and charity, of gratitude, and the de- 



82 



DESPONDENCY IN 



sire of belonging entirely to our Maker. But if 
our heart remains in this tepidity, it . must either 
occupy itself with natural gratifications, or abandon 
itself to despondency, and lose all courage. 

In whatever state your soul may be, faith is 
your only support, and must be your strength and 
consolation. Illumined by its light, you will per- 
ceive the snares which environ you, and the means 
to avoid them. The direction of a soul by faith, 
is much safer than that which relies on consolation. 
In the former, principles are ever the same, sure 
and unshaken ; they are founded on truth and reve- 
lation, their consequences are readily perceived, as 
also the means which we must employ in their ap- 
plication. From these truths, that God the creator 
of the universe is the sovereign Lord of creatures, 
and their last end, that He created them only for 
His glory, that He died in order to procure them 
eternal happiness, we readily conclude that we must 
obey Him, refer all that we do to Him, and love 
Him above all things, no matter how He may dis- 
pose of us. These truths we may always find in 
Religion, if we are willing to perceive them ; the} 
always hold the same language to us, and expose u: 
to no illusion. The principles are clear and cer 
tain, and there is no need of much reasoning to de 
duce their practical conclusions. 

Sensible devotion, on the contrary, is subject t<j 
illusion. We may easily mistake a natural soften 
ing of the heart for a heavenly consolation. An- 1 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



83 



so. after having experienced the greatest sweetness 
in prayer, we remain with little strength or will to 
lead a life of greater recollection, mortification and 
regularity. Instances of this kind are not unfre- 
quent. 

As for those consolations, and that sensible de- 
votion, which really come from God, and produce 
in our soul precious fruits of virtue and merit, they 
may be withdrawn. They are not necessary for 

, salvation, and our Lord may deprive us of them in 
order to teach us that if, on the one hand, we should 
receive them with humility and gratitude, on the 

B other we must not cling to them in such a way as 

• to relax in our vigilance, and to be troubled at their 
i withdrawal. In depriving us of them, God does 
. not abandon us, He wishes only to prove and to 
:-. purify our love for Him. 

What is the conduct of one wjio, accustomed to 
be guided by sensible devotion, finds himself sud- 
- : deniy deprived of its consolations? He is without 
H support, and knows not where to look for strength 
m and encouragement. Little used to act from that 
(I charity which springs from Faith, he does not even 
id think of adopting this means, the only one that 
J| remains, but of which he knows not the advantages. 
Troubled by his loss, he turns away from God by 
repeated infidelities, foolishly imagining that he is 

• deserted in that which is only meant for a trial. 
•£Ci Every difficulty is exaggerated, and he is soon in 
v}c danger of entirely forsaking God. 

1 



84 



DESPONDENCY IN 



If sensible consolations are more sweet and sat- 
isfactory, faith is more certain and meritorious. 
We should cling to it therefore, at all times, and 
under all circumstances. Enjoy the consolations 
which God may send you, but in your actions be 
guided by the principles of faith. You will then 
have nothing to change in your conduct, when the 
time of consolation ceases. 



(£t)avtcv 20. 

FAULTS COMMITTED BY PIOUS SOULS IN TIME OF DESOLATION. 

Dryness and desolation are very trying to such as 
love God, and they cause many to fall into despond- 
ency. And yet their greatest trouble and danger 
spring from their own conduct under the trial. 
The first fault committed by such persons, is a want 
of confidence in prayer, neglecting it or practising 
it with indifference, at a time when they stand in 
the greatest need of its support. The difficulty 
which they experience is no reason for omitting 
those pious exercises, which duty, or their previous' 
resolutions prescribe. We can not too frequently 
repeat that virtue consists in doing the will of God. 
Does He require that at a certain time we should 
be occupied in mental or vocal prayer, spiritual 
reading, or any other spiritual, exercise, then we 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 85 

must not fail to be there; it may be the very time 
appointed by Him for the end of our trial, we must 
go with confidence, with the desire and expectation 
of profiting by those graces which He will be sure 
to provide. 

" But I do nothing when I am there," you will 
say; "overwhelmed with weariness, trouble and dis- 
tractions, I have neither good thoughts, nor good 
desires. My mind is dark, and my heart is 
silent/' 

I know how trying this state is in the constant 
effort which it requires. But it is a consolation to 
know that you are doing the will of God, when you are 
there where He wishes you to be. He will not re- 
fuse to hear you, if you confidently ask for grace 
to bear with patience this state of wearisomeness, 
and disgust, and to persevere with fidelity, notwith- 
standing the trouble you experience ; and if He 
still defer to send the relief which you implore, it 
is only in order to test your love, and increase your 
merit. 

Then too, you do wrong to worry yourself on 
-account of distractions. They are not faults, ex- 
cept in as much as you yield to them. If you over- 
come them as soon as you perceive them, your 
prayer is not the less agreeable to God, it becomes 
doubly meritorious, for you are exercising at once 
piety and mortification. True merit consists in 
overcoming difficulties in a spirit of faith and 
charity. Even though the distraction returns every 



86 



DESPONDENCY IN 



minute, continue to put it aside with the same fidel- 
ity, renewing again your sense of the presence of 
God, and you will have no ground for self-reproach. 
Lightness of mind distracts the heart in prayer, 
but, says St. Augustine, when we grieve at this 
weakness, and humble ourselves on its account, our 
prayer is not interrupted. 

Religion is full of consolation to those who fol 
low its principles, and observe the practices which 
it counsels or prescribes. 

If in time of prayer we experience neither 
pious thoughts nor good sentiments, it may possibly 
be the result either of our trouble, or our sloth. 
We are disturbed at our condition, and when we are 
in this state, we can not reflect sufficiently 'to en- 
able us to discover the proper remedies. We are 
in a manner blinded, not discerning or not attending 
to the means which present themselves confusedly 
to our mind, so as to seize and employ them. In 
our embarrassment, fear takes possession of our 
heart, and paralyzes its action, it presents the 
graces which God is disposed to give us, and places 
obstacles in the way of His bountiful goodness. 

Sloth, on the other hand, holds us back from 
reflecting seriously on the principles of faith, that 
we may follow them, and causes us to weary of the 
struggle in which we are engaged. Then comes the 
thought that we have not the strength to persevere 
in this self-combat. We resign ourselves finally to 
a negligence, which renders our spiritual exercises 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



87 



yet more difficult and distasteful, or we give them 
up entirely. 

It is not difficult to find a remedy to both these 
evils. You must convince yourself that this state 
is not bad in itself, and that, as I have already 
shown you, it can be made very pleasing and meri- 
torious before God. Why then should it disturb 
you ? If you look only to Heaven, you should re- 
gard the condition of your soul as a great benefit, 
since it leads you there, and that too, more se- 
curely than one which would be more agreeable to 
nature and to self-love. Open your heart to that 
confidence which Keligion inspires, and prepare to 
receive the succor which it furnishes. Accept this 
trial from the hand of the Lord, bear it with pa- 
tience as long as He wills it, and offer it up to Him 
in a spirit of penance and expiation. Every one 
can, and every one must humble himself before 
God, in thus submitting to the interior trials to 
which he is subjected. As for holy thoughts which 
may unite you with God, your present state itself will 
i suggest them. So soon as your trouble and anxiety 
shall have subsided, your thoughts will turn to 
Heaven from which your help must come. 

Prayer becomes another subject of anxiety. 
The tempter sets this snare for you, that by making 
it a source of trouble, he may prevent you from de- 
riving any advantage from its exercise. He seeks 
to draw you aside from the right path, by prevent- 
ing you from following the inclination which God 



88 



DESPONDENCY IN 



gives you, that you may follow your own will in a 
kind of prayer which is your own choice, and to 
which you are not called, contrary to the well- 
approved maxim, that in all things, and especially 
in prayer, we must follow the inspiration of God. 

If in prayer God suggests to us the contempla- 
tion of several virtues, so long as one is sufficient 
to engage our attention, we must not turn away to 
meditate another. So soon as that ceases to fix our 
thoughts, we must turn to the one which God sug- 
gests. But, as if it were necessary to occupy our- 
selves with only one subject, and it were impossible 
to attend usefully to several, a pious soul will often 
resist the inspiration, and attach himself obstinately 
to the first, which has ceased to furnish him mat- 
ter for meditation, and in striving to do his own 
will, contrary to the will of God, he will exhaust 
himself in useless efforts. 

God will attract another by prolonged contem- 
plations on the great truths of Religion, wishing 
him to penetrate them that he may be guided by 
them in his conduct. But that is not the plan 
which he himself has devised. He wishes to be all 
affection for God, he is pleased with sentiments 
alone, and reflection wearies him. Leaving the 
path which God points out to him, he enters one 
where he can not find Him. He loses many a use- 
ful thought, to occupy himself in vain sentiments, 
productive of no good, because they are entirely 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



89 



his own, and then complains that he can not apply 
himself to prayer. 

A third wishes to follow the ordinary method 
of prayer, meditating on the subject which he has 
prepared, exciting the feelings which these reflec- 
tions surest, and taking the resolutions which 
seem appropriate. But this is not what God re- 
quires of him, He wishes to occupy his heart 
rather than his intellect. If he withdraws himself 
from the feelings which He excites, to give himself 
up to meditation, he will be assailed by a thousand 
distractions, especially if his imagination be very 
active, grasping the whole subject in a moment, 
and seeing everything, as it were, at a single glance. 
He will soon have neither salutary thoughts, nor 
devout sentiments, and tired of struggling with 
himself, in despair of success, he will either for- 
sake prayer entirely, or pass the time in voluntary 
distractions. 

He who despairs of finding the God he is seek- 
ing with all his heart, falls into despondency. 
Prayer becomes a task, and is abandoned. Note it 
well ; this difficulty in occupying ourselves in 
heavenly things, is the consequence of resisting the 
will of God that we may follow our own. If we 
permitted ourselves to be lead by the Holy Spirit, 
our complaints would soon cease, in the ease with 
which we should perform our spiritual exercises, or 
in the benefit which we should derive from them in 
advancing to perfection. 



90 



DESPONDENCY IN 



The ordinary method is an excellent one, and 
that which we should follow in the commencement 
of cur spiritual life. But when the spirit of God 
gives us a special attraction towards some other 
method of prayer, it is the advice of all spiritual 
directors, that we should not resist, but follow the 
inspiration, according to the saying of our Lord : 
"The Spirit breatheth where He icilleth" (John 
iii, 8). 



(C I) a p t c v 21. 

ONE OF OUR PRETEXTS FOR ABANDONING PRAYER IS THAT WE 
LOSE OUR TIME. THIS IS USUALLY FALSE, AND OFTEN CRIM- 
INAL WHEN TRUE. HOW TO OCCUPY OURSELVES USEFULLY 
IN TIME OF PRAYER. 

There are some persons who do not seem to have 
an attraction for any particular method of prayer. 
They prepare for their meditation by reading, or 
hearing some subject read from a book ; but either 
they forget it or the matter does not prove suffi- 
cient for the time. In this case, they know not 
what to do. They soon begin to think that they 
are losing time which might be better employed 
elsewhere. Is it not better, they ask you, to obey 
this thought, than to spend the time devoted to 
prayer in doing nothing? 

This temptation, for it is nothing else, is dan- 
gerous and hurtful, since it leads the soul away 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



91 



from God, by an occupation undertaken in opposi- 
tion to His will. 

And how, I would ask in turn, can a pious soul 
make such a complaint? Should we not blush to 
acknowledge that we cannot occupy our thoughts 
with God ? If sloth and self-love permit, let us en- 
ter into ourselves, examining in His holy presence, 
whether our feelings, motives, and conduct be con- 
formable to our state, what the passions which sway 
us, the occasions which give rise to our faults, and 
then giving way to our sorrow for having offended 
Him, let us seek the means which may effect our 
amendment. Here is a subject which is ever at 
hand, which cannot easily be exhausted, which 
perhaps is one of the most useful we can select. 

How many similar thoughts present themselves 
for our meditation ! There is no one who cannot 
find among the lessons of religion, some familiar 
subject on which he can fix his attention. 

With the publican, he may acknowledge him- 
self unworthy of the goodness of God, implore 
His mercy, wonder at His patience in bearing with 
us, and humbly offer up his grateful thanks. 

With Mary Magdalen, he may bow down at the 
feet of Jesus, weep with grief at the sight of his 
sins, and solicit His forgiveness. He may recall to 
his memory the benefits which he has received 
from the bounty of his Lord, creation, redemption, 
and that special Providence which has placed him in 
the Church, the only ark of safety; the goodness 



92 



DESPONDENCY IN 



with which He seeks us when we wander away, the 
patience with which He views our resistance of His 
grace, the sweetness with which He leads us back 
to the path from which we have strayed. 

Such reflections as these, and numberless others, 
like them, based upon what we owe to God, and 
upon our relations with eternity would be sufficient 
to occupy us without difficulty, and without com- 
pelling us to remain in any one longer than we are 
able to draw fruit from it. 

If our imagination be quick and lively, it will 
be more easily fixed by contemplating some sensi- 
ble object in which we take interest. Our Lord 
Jesus Christ, God and man, is such an object, capa- 
ble of exciting in the soul the liveliest interest. 
What utility may we not derive from this contem- 
plation in prayer ? 

"We may represent Him, to ourselves, teaching 
the multitudes, and we will dwell on the truths 
which He reveals. We may consider Him as He 
lived on earth; we see how intent He was on His 
Father's glory ; His fidelity in accomplishing His 
will, however difficult or painful ; His patience, 
His love for mankind, as shown in the humiliations 
and sufferings to which He submitted Himself for 
their sake. What examples for ourselves are to 
be found in all the virtues practised by our divine 
Saviour ! These examples are all sufficient to 
strike the imagination, and employ it profitably, 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



93 



if we will only take the pains to make their appli- 
cation to ourselves. 

Our prayer is frequently performed in the pre- 
sence of the Blessed Sacrament. This should re- 
call to our minds the sacrifice which Jesus makes 
of Himself on our altars ; His dwelling in the tab- 
ernacle ; the holy table to which He invites us, 
where He feeds us with His precious body and 
blood, and where He has so frequently united Him- 
self to us so intimately and so perfectly. What 
thoughts and feelings will not be inspired by these 
prodigies of love, if we are ever so little diligent 
in their consideration ! If, notwithstanding all 
this, our imagination still continues to wander, let 
us turn our eyes to the altar, where Jesus Christ 
reposes, fix them on tha cross on which He is sus- 
pended, and we shall soon be drawn back to Him. 

No matter ^hat the condition in which your 
soul may be, always commence your prayer with 
the firm hope that it will prove for you a time 
of great merit. Since it is God that calls you to 
it, you will be sure to receive abundant graces 
in return for the sacrifice which you make of your 
will. Your confidence will give you that holy 
familiarity which you should have for a Father who 
is infinitely good ; it will fill your heart with love, 
and console you in your troubles by the hope of 
reward. You will experience His assistance in 
resisting and overcoming your passions, which are 
the enemies of His glory, no less than of your hap- 



94 



DESPONDENCY IN 



piness. Do not allow yourself then to be troubled ; 
do not listen to sloth, and fear nothing, since you are 
under the protection of a God, who is infinitely good, 
infinitely powerful, and ever faithful to His promises. 

You will always find occupation for your 
thoughts, or in your struggles, the means of merit- 
ing eternal happiness. 



Clioptu 22. . 

TO STRIVE FOR SENSIBLE DEVOTION IS U3ELESS, OFTEN DANGER- 
OUS, AND GIVES OCCASION FOR DESPONDENCY. 

Another source of despondency is to be found in 
the efforts which we make to excite sensible devo- 
tion, efforts which call forth all our strength. We 
fancy that, without this sensibility, we cannot 
please God, as though He who scrutinises the 
heart, would take account of so equivocal a proof 
of piety ; or as though our divine Saviour, in the 
agony of His desolation in the garden of Olives, 
had not been equally, as ever, pleasing to His 
heavenly Father. 

If you are in such a state, learn that you will 
gain nothing by trying to raise yourself above the 
level of the graces which you have received. In- 
stead of struggling for sensible devotion, which is 
withheld from you for the time being, be satisfied 
to fix your thoughts on God according to the 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



95 



grace which He imparts. If He wishes you to 
walk in the light of faith alone, and reason, with no 
other feelings save what they inspire, you must 
continue in that way till He bid you change. Con- 
tent yourself with regulating your conduct by the 
truths of Religion and the maxims of the gospel, 
humbling yourself before God on account of your 
transgressions, and adopting such resolutions and 
such means as shall enable you to avoid them. He 
will accept your sentiments, strengthen your reso- 
lutions, and reward them with His most precious 
graces. 

This, you will say, is precisely what I do, and 
yet I feel that, in so doing, I have no love for God, 
that is, it seems to me that my heart has no part in 
the sentiments which my lips express. Sometimes, 
indeed, I find sentiments arising within me that are 
opposed to those which I could wish to have for 
Him, and hence my trouble, my weariness and dis- 
couragement. 

If you will only examine this feeling calmly, 
you will soon be relieved. God requires only that 
our love for Him should be sincere. In order to 
be reassured concerning this sincerity, it is not 
necessary that your sentiments should be character- 
ised by that sensibility which fills the heart with 
sweetness and rapture, it is sufficient that they 
should really exist in the soul, that is, in the rea- 
son, in the will ; and you must judge of their sin- 
cerity by your readiness to reduce them to practice. 



96 



DESPONDENCY IN 



When this is the case, your feelings are true and 
sincere, and they will be supernatural if accompanied 
by divine grace. 

There is nothing singular in all this. How 
often do we not find, in our intercourse with others, 
a true and sincere disposition to oblige, though un- 
attended by that sensibility which accompanies a 
service rendered to a friend ? And even when 
assisting a friend, is it not frequently without any 
pleasure or inclination, and not without a certain 
repugnance ? And is not our service, in such a 
case, all the more praiseworthy? This is the in- 
struction that we give to those who are preparing 
themselves for the Sacrament of Penance ; it is not 
necessary, we tell them, that your contrition should 
be sensible, suffice it that it be sincere, in the reso- 
lution to lead a better life for the future. 

Your complaint, therefore, of the absence of all 
sensible devotion, is without foundation, and the 
consequent despondency, unreasonable. Instead of 
troubling yourself you should only despise it. 
What you have to do is simply to have recourse to 
God, that your sentiments, being accompanied by 
His grace, may be rendered supernatural, and may 
want none of that perfection which He desires. 

Sensible fervor in your spiritual exercises, in 
your love of God, or of your neighbor, is what 
God neither commands nor requires, since it is in- 
dependent of your exertions. You cannot excite it 
with all your industry and all your efforts, a reason 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



97 



which, alone should suffice to console you in its ab- 
sence. When the Lord sends it, it comes without 
an effort; if He withholds it, all our. efforts would 
be in vaiti. You only weary your mind in the 
struggle to excite it; instead of increasing, you 
diminish the devotion which faith would otherwise 
inspire. Follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, 
wait till He visit you and do not forestall His 
movements except by your prayers. 

That sensible fervor which softens and rav- 
ishes the heart, filling it with a rapture which some 
have been unable to support, is one of those graces, 
which are ordinarily the reward of interior morti- 
fication, graces which are means to perfection, but 
which God grants or withholds, according to the 
inscrutable designs of His providence. We may 
pray for this fervor and receive it with gratitude, 
but we must await it without impatience, enjoy it 
wiih moderation, and be prepared to give it up 
whenever God shall require the sacrifice. 

We can, most assuredly, please God and enter- 1 
tain for Him sentiments which are real and sincere, 
without experiencing this sensible fervor, although 
occupied with thoughts which are the most capable 
of exciting it. In such meditations, it is sufficient 
to hold ourselves willing and determined to prefer 
God before all things else whatsoever. This feel- 
ing of love for God, may always be excited by ap- 
| pftliiig to the motives of faith, which are too well 
known to need repetition. As this charity is neces- 



98 



DESPONDENCY IN 



sary for salvation, God is always ready to assist us 
in eliciting it through His grace, when we implore 
it with confidence. 

It is this sincerity of affection whereby we 
unite ourselves to God by the free choice of our 
will, that renders us pleasing in His eyes. Any 
one who lives the life of faith, can recognize this 
sincere determination in himself, in the means 
which he adopts, in accordance with the Gospel, to 
place and maintain himself in this disposition. I 
do not affirm that he can be absolutely certain, but 
that he may find evidence sufficiently strong to re- 
assure him in this state of dryness, weariness and 
involuntary tepidity in which God allows him to 
remain, and to give hope that through His mercy 
it will conduce to his salvation. 

And take notice that a soul which is visited 
with great sensible devotion, not knowing whether 
it is the operation of divine grace, is, no more than 
any other, assured of loving God sincerely and 
supernaturally. Your security therefore would not 
be greater were you possessed of this sensible 
fervor which you desire, and the absence of which 
causes you trouble and discouragement. 

Nor must you be surprised if you perceive very 
sensibly the presence of feelings which are opposed 
to those which you desire to entertain ; for this 
happens in every temptation. 

The passions are always more quick and sen- 
sible in the feelings which they excite. We per- 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



99 



ceive theni more readily and vividly because they 
incline us towards sensible objects which are more 
conformed to our natural inclinations, and to the 
inspirations of self-love. This sensibility resides 
in our nature, and requires no exterior help. 

On the contrary, a sensibility to the things of . 
God. is an effect of His grace not accorded to all. 
The feelings excited by faith, not being in accord- 
ance with our self-love, interfere with its inclina- 
tions. It is then not surprising that you should 
perceive a sensibility in the one case, and none in 
the other; unless God should Himself grant it to 
you. You should not therefore allow yourself to 
be troubled or frightened, but should act in this 
state of dryness, weariness and disgust as you do 
when subjected to any other temptation. After 
recommending yourself to the mercy of God, put 
away those feelings which disturb your union with 
Him, reflect on the motives which should lead you 
to Him. and make acts of that charity which faith 
and divine grace have imparted to your reason, and 
your will, rather than to your feelings. Force the 
temptation to leave you ; you may have less con- 
solation, but you will have more merit ; and merit 
is far superior to consolation. 



» 



100 



DESPONDENCY IN 



Chapter 28 

ON THE USE OF SPIRITUAL BOOKS DURING TIME OF PRAYER, OR 
"WHEN ATTENDING AT MASS. 

There are some who, finding that their mind and 
heart furnish them nothing in this state of dryness, 
by which to unite themselves to God, have recourse 
to spiritual books to aid their recollection and pre- 
serve them from distractions. This means is some- 
times good ; for reading arrests and fixes the im- 
agination. If occasionally it wander, it can be 
brought back to God, by tme thoughts and senti- 
ments contained in the book before us. But I 
think that we should not adopt this means hastily, 
nor without such precautions as are necessary to 
its utility. 

In the first place, we must not have recourse to 
them through sloth, trying to avoid the difficulty 
of fixing our thoughts on God. Such a motive 
would only deprive you of His assistance, and pre- 
vent you from finding that recollection which you 
seek. To draw down upon yourself the mercy of 
the Lord, the motive of your action should be 
good, whereas this, on the contrary, is not. 

Not only would you be disappointed in that 
which you intended, but you would moreover be 
subject to a new inconvenience. You would lose 
the habit of fixing your attention on heavenly 
thoughts, so that when depr'ved of spiritual books, 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



101 



you would find yourself at a loss what to do during 
the time of prayer and mass. When before the 
blessed Sacrament, or in your chamber, you should 
wish to elevate your mind and heart to God, the 
same spirit of indolence would interpose to deter 
you. You should therefore employ this means 
only when, in spite of your good-will, and your 
elforts, the imagination continues to go astray, be- 
fore you are aware of its wandering. God will 
then bless the care which you take to avoid forget- 
ting Him even by involuntary distractions. 

As we should in all things try to follow the 
customary order of Providence in things pertaining 
to our salvation, when you are reduced to the ne- 
cessity of helping yourself by a spiritual book, you 
should select one which is conformable to the exer- 
cise in which you are engaged. It is the will of God 
that at that time you should be occupied in certain 
reflections or sentiments, and as we should not de- 
part from that order of Providence, for which our 
graces are promised and prepared, you should take 
that book which is best adapted to aid you in ful- 
filling the duty. 

Do not imitate such as during mass take up the 
first pious book that comes to hand, or that pleases 
their taste. Whilst they are reading a sermon, or 
some favorite author, and absorbed in their reading, 
the time passes away without their being aware 
that they are assisting at the holy sacrifice, or at 
least without their eliciting those pious sentiments 



102 



DESPONDENCY IN 



which this mystery of the love of Jesus for us, 
should inspire. How many graces are not lost hy 
such conduct which testifies their indifference for 
their divine Redeemer immolated every day on the 
Altar? How can it be otherwise, since they ask 
Him nothing, at a time when He is unable to re- 
fuse them anything, having established the throne 
^f His mercy, on the altar of His temple. 

Besides, if such conduct were not exposed to 
this objection, it would still be contrary to the 
spirit of the Church. That loving mother of the 
faithful, careful of everything that may contribute 
to their salvation, exhorts them to unite them- 
selves with the priest in offering this holy sacrifice 
to the Almighty Father. The consecration is the 
part of the priest alone, but the offertory which 
precedes it. is common to all the faithful, whom he 
invites to unite with him in soliciting the graces of 
Heaven upon the whole Church. " Orate fratres ; 
pray, my brothers, that my sacrifice, and yours, 
may prove acceptable to God, the Almighty Father." 
To conform to this spirit you should, during mass, 
make use of books containing prayers suited to the 
different parts of the sacrifice, which may enable 
you to unite yourself with Jesus Christ in the dif- 
ferent sentiments inspired by the sacrifice which 
He offers to His Father for your benefit; or by 
books, which in the considerations they contain 
concerning the Eucharist, enable you to produce 
appropriate acts of Faith. Hope, Love, and Grati- 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



103 



tude. This sacrifice is the effect of love, and love 
can be repaid by love alone. Consult your own 
heart, and it will say : " it is strange that whilst 
Jesus Christ is working for you the most stupend- 
ous miracles, you should be doing nothing to testify 
your gratitude." 

I do not pretend to say that it is absolutely ne- 
cessary that you should hear mass in this manner. 
I know that to assist worthily at the holy sacrifice, 
it is sufficient that you should be engaged in prayer 
vocal or mental, in union of intention with the 
priest ; but I assert that when we are obliged to 
have recourse to a book to aid us in recollection, 
we should rather select one which will best enable 
us to enter into the spirit of the holy exercise. 

Do not say with those, whose thoughtlessness 
is observable in all things, that it is tiresome to be 
always repeating the same thing. The mass is not 
an amusement, in which we seek variety. It is the 
most holy, the most august, the most sublime act 
of our Religion. Its motives remain ever the 
same, and the sentiments which it inspires can not 
be repeated too frequently, or too deeply engraven 
on our heart, God always receives them with love, 
He never leaves them unrewarded. 



104 



DESPONDENCY IN 



Chapter 24. 

WHAT BOOKS WE SHOULD USE DURING PRAYER, AND WHAT 
PLAN WE SHOULD ADOPT IN THEIR PERUSAL. 

In using books during time of prayer, it is import- 
ant to be careful in our choice, and to follow a use- 
ful plan in their perusal. There are books which 
contain meditations, in which the soul rises, as it 
were, to the very bosom of God, losing itself in 
His infinite perfections, and penetrating into the 
deepest and most hidden mysteries. These are not 
the books for one who asks a remedy for distraction. 
God alone can introduce us to this kind of contem- 
plation, and when He calls us to it, we engage in 
it without difficulty. To strive for it of our own 
accord, and without being attracted to it by divine 
grace, would be an error and an illusion. Not 
God, but pride and presumption would become our 
guide in this extraordinary path. Self-love and 
self-esteem insinuating themselves into our prayer, 
would prevent us from deriving fruit for ourselves ; 
they would separate us from God, instead of uni- 
ting us to Him, or in the supposition of our good 
faith, the uselessness of our efforts would lead to 
despondency. 

It is to that meditation which is possible to 
every Christian soul, that I here allude. Prayer 
is intended not only to enlighten the mind Concern- 
ing the truths of religion, and the extent of our 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



105 



duties, but to stimulate the will to greater union 
with God through its affections, and to a practice 
of those virtues in which we find our sanctifica- 
tion. Of what use would it be to know our duties, 
if vre do hot strive, through religious motives, to 
love them, with a view to please God. 

A book, therefore, which serves only for in- 
struction, which does not propose the motives that 
excite the will to practise the resolutions suggested, 
would not be one suited to a time of prayer. 
Generally, it is not so much instruction that is 
wanted, as the will to put it in practice. 

Practical books of meditation are what we 
need, those which combine reflection and sentiment, 
and which cause us to love our duty whilst making 
it known. With any others, we are in danger of 
losing the habit of the ordinary meditation, and 
of finding ourselves at a loss when we wish to re- 
flect on the truths of Religion, to draw practical 
conclusions, or to form resolutions for the regula- 
tion of our conduct, because we have rendered this 
method unfamiliar, by the use of books which do 
not follow it. 

Prayer is not a study, but a means of leading 
us to virtue by the motives which religion offers. 
It is not sufficient that we should be acquainted 
with our obligations, we must be attached to them 
through a desire of pleasing God. 

If you wish to derive fruit from this holy exer- 



106 



DESPONDENCY IN 



cise, through the help of books, be careful not to 
read on, without occasional pauses. Meditation and 
spiritual reading are two different exercises. Med- 
itation is intended to unite the heart with God ; never 
lose sight of this truth. The heart is attached 
only through its own affections and sentiments; in 
books, you meet only the affections and sentiments 
of others. They will interest your mind, bnt will 
be foreign to your heart, unless you stop, from time 
to time, to reflect on the motives presented to you, 
and thus excite the heart to make them its own by 
reproducing them. 

Wi do not sanctify ourselves by reading in a 
book the love which some one else had for God, but 
by that which we ourselves conceive and actuate. 

From such reading you will come with a heart 
as empty as when you began, because it will have 
done nothing for itself. Prayer is more an exer- 
cise of the heart than of the intellect. Prayer, in 
which the heart has no part, is but the exterior of 
an edifice in which there is nothing within. And 
hence it is, that they who make use of books, and 
who do nothing but read them, arise from prayer, 
very well satisfied with themselves, perhaps, but as 
little recollected in spirit as they were before. 
They leave without having made any resolutions 
to serve God better in the future. The heart hav- 
ing done nothing towards its own reformation, 
resumes its inclinations, and continues to abandon 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



107 



itself to their attraction. From prayer they run 
to dissipation, which they have not learned to 
renounce. 

Eead then, if you find difficulty in recollecting 
yourself in God, but read in a spirit of faith, and 
when you meet with reflections which you can ap- 
ply to yourself, do not pass them lightly by ; 
weigh them well, and engrave them deeply in your 
mind, that your heart may closely embrace them. 
They will serve to correct some defects, which they 
will make known to you, to confirm you in the love 
of virtues which you will find occasion to practise. 

And if, in your reading, you find some good 
sentiments, do not think it enough to admire them, 
but try to make them your own. In the holy con- 
fidence, that through the mercy and grace of God, 
)ou too can be elevated to the perfection of senti- 
ment which so many others have reached before 
you, stop and try to excite your heart to their re- 
production, not once, but again and again, and in 
different ways, and for the different motives which 
1 1 the Holy Spirit will suggest, and do not leave them^ 
so long as they serve to occupy your attention. If 

■ • your imagination wander, return to your reading, 

and continue it after this method, never forgetting 

■ that books are not intended to encourage indolence, 
- but to favor recollection. 

If, on such occasions, God sends you some good 
: : thought, though it be not connected with what you 



108 



DESPONDENCY IN 



are reading, leave the book and pursue the thought ; 
the Holy Spirit breathes where He chooseth ! 

Self-ease, always fearful of trouble, may sug- 
gest to you, that you should disregard the inspira- 
tion, and continue, in the hope of finding, farther 
on, something more useful to you. Do not listen 
to its suggestion ; it is a snare of the enemy, who 
wishes to make you unfaithful to the grace which 
you have received, and to cause you to lose the 
fruit of your meditation. 

The truths that we read, as those too which we 
meditate, make a salutary impression on our heart, 
in proportion only to the grace with which God ac- 
companies them. He it is who speaks to the 
heart, and who renders fruitful the salutary thought. 
You should therefore read in a spirit of faith, of 
confidence and docility. God, who has been pleased 
to attract your attention at this moment, may not 
attach the same grace to that which you seek else- 
where, and your unfaithfulness may be the cause 
of loss. It will be your own fault if your prayer 
does not produce all the good that you had ex- 
pected. The same temptations, moreover, may 
lead you to overlook the succeeding reflections as 
you did the first. Your meditation will prove to be 
only a spiritual reading, indifferently made, from 
which you will derive no advantage. 

But, you object, if I stop in this way, I shall 
not have time to finish the points of the meditation. 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETY. 



109 



And, pray, what necessity is there of consider- 
ing them all, if one alone suffices to occupy you? 
Why should you abandon a thought which, engages 
your attention in a salutary manner, in order to 
seek another which may not be so successful ? 
Why leave a certain, to pursue an uncertain ad- 
vantage? This would be listening to your own 
inconstancy, and not to the spirit of God. 

In the reflection which you are desirous of 
passing by, you may find two things ; either a de- 
fect to be overcome, or a virtue to be practised : or 
again, some fresh motive for loving God. The 
former may serve to your correction, and it may 
be, in some important point; the second should 
serve to increase your disposition to cultivate every 
virtue. Charity embraces all things, and if we re- 
main so weak and imperfect, it is because we do 
not love sufficiently. Can you find anything better 
elsewhere ? 

3Iake use, then, of the grace which is offered 
to you. Never exchange certainty for uncertainty. 
Lean more to sentiment or feeling than to reflec- 
tion. When the heart is united to God, the mind 
I is more easily fixed, and the imagination less dis- 
1 posed to wander. Finally, it cannot be doubted, 
. that to reach God and Heaven, we must follow His 
inspirations, and be guided by His Spirit. If He 
septus to abandon you, do not be afraid, remain 
firm and constant. Hope is a port of refuge, against 



110 



THE PURSUIT OF PIETl,. 



storms and tempests. Even though you were at 
the bottom of an abyss, God, in His mercy, would 
draw you out. No matter what our state may be, 
we must never allow ourselves to despair ; and dis- 
couragement, when deliberate and voluntary, what- 
ever may be the pretext, is as unreasonable as it is 
criminal. 



A . M . D . G . 



A TREATISE 

ON 

TEMPTATIONS. 



<E I) a p 1 1 r 1 . 

TEMPTATIONS, NO PROOF OF GOD'S HAYING ABANDONED US. IF 
SOMETIMES A MARK OF HIS ANGER. IT JS AN ANGER TEM- 
PERED BY MERCY. 

Temptations trouble pious souls, and plunge the 
dissipated over the precipice. In order to prevent 
the evil which they may produce, it is well to give 
you the reasons for not fearing them, the principles 
by which you should be guided on different occa- 
sions, the way in which you should behave wheu 
assailed, and by which you may preserve yourself 
against their assaults, and finally, the advantages 
which you may derive from them. 

A temptation is a thought, a feeling, an inclina- 
tion, a tendency, which leads us to violate the law 
of God for our own satisfaction. They should 
neither trouble nor discourage a Christian soul. 
The devil decfares war especially against those who 

(ill) 



112 



A TREATISE ON 



detest his rule, who fight against their passions, 
who are disciples of Jesus Christ, as much by their 
purity of love, as by the ineffaceable seal of regen- 
eration, or against those who seriously think of 
throwing off the yoke which he has imposed upon 
them. In his attempts against them, he seeks only 
to make them renounce the love of Jesus Christ, 
to separate them from God by making them his 
partners in disobedience. This reflexion should 
prove the consolation of those who are tempted. 
It is their contradiction with him, the enemy of 
their salvation, their love for piety, and for the 
will of God, that draw upon them this persecution. 
A little perseverance will make them victorious, 
and will strengthen them in virtue. 

Souls that are naturally timid,. or whom the 
Lord has conducted, for a long time, by a cessation 
of passion, and the sweetness of peace, are apt to 
imagine that these temptations which, they some- 
times experience, are signs of God's anger, and 
they even come to think themselves abandoned, 
when the temptation becomes strong and frequent. 
The} r cannot persuade themselves that God can 
look with a favorable eye upon a heart agitated by 
sentiments so opposed to virtue. This is the last 
resource of the enemy for the overthrow of a soul, 
which he has been unable to seduce by the empty 
pleasures of vice. He takes away that precious 
confidence which would sustain it against all the 
assaults of hell. 



TEMPTATIONS. 



113 



Such souls are grossly deceived. Those who 
are instructed, who are better acquainted with the 
ways of Providence, are not surprised at the strug- 
gle in which they are engaged. They have learned, 
from the Holy Ghost, that the life of man is a per- 
petual combat; that we are obliged to defend our- 
selves, without ceasing, from within, against our 
tastes, our inclinations, our self-love, domestic ene- 
mies who are ever ready to betray us by their 
snares and their suggestions ; from without, against 
the influence of bad example, human respect, and 
the powers of hell, jealous of man's happiness and 
conspiring against him from the beginning of the 
world. They know that it is only by the vic- 
tories which we gain through the assistance of 
grace, that we force our way to Heaven, and that, 
according to the Apostle : " He also who sti^ives for 
the master}/ is not crowned except he strive lawfully." 
(II. Tim. ii, 5.) 

St. Paul, although he prayed to be delivered 
from them, did not regard the temptations, which 
he continued to experience, as signs of God's hav- 
ing abandoned him. The Saints, so long and so 
• violently attacked by the devil, even in the desert, 
and in the exercise of the severest penance, had 
not this idea of temptations. On the contrary, 
they always regarded them as the object of their 
struggles, and the subject of their merit. They 
knew what was said in the Holy Scripture : " Be- 
cause ihoil wast acceptable to God, it was necessary 



A TREATISE ON 



that temptation should, prove thee." (Tob. xii, 13.) 
This is the view that you too should take, it is the 
only one which is correct, according to the princi- 
ples of Religion ; and then you will no longer be 
troubled or discouraged. 

But though temptations are no sign of our being 
forsaken, since God never entirely abandons man so 
long as he is alive ; and although they are gener- 
ally a trial of the just, yet they are sometimes the 
effect of divine justice, which punishes thereby our 
negligence in the divine service, the weakness of 
slothful and presumptuous souls, the indulgence of 
natural inclinations. But whether they be a pun- 
ishment, or a trial, our submission in receiving 
them, and our fidelity in resisting them, must be 
still the same.. From the most loving of Fathers, 
we cannot expect a justice unaccompanied by mercy. 
His grace always follows on prayer and confidence. 
He does not desire our destruction ; He punishes 
us only to regain us. And so far from being dis- 
couraged, and troubled, we should be animated, in 
the combat, by the pardon which is extended to us, 
if, with an humble and contrite heart, we faithfully 
perform the penance which God imposes. 



TEMPTATIONS. 



115 



Chapter 2 

TEMPTATIONS NO SIGN OF A DANGEROUS STATE OF THE SOUL, IN 
REGARD TO GOD AND SALTATION. 

Frequent temptations may prove' that the heart is 
subject to passions, and inclined to evil, but, when 
rejected, they do not indicate that it is bad, or sep- 
arated from God. This inclination to evil, which 
we inherit from our birth, as a consequence of the 
sin of our first parents, is sometimes increased by 
the influence of the senses on the soul. They ren- 
der us more or less subject to temptation, according 
as their impressions are more or less strong; and 
this being independent of our will, and not having 
its origin in the heart, does not indicate a vicious 
state. It is not the cause of this sensible disturb- 
ance ; on the contrary, it suffers from it ; and when, 
from its love for virtue, it corrects the inclination, 
strong as it may be, the heart certainly does not 
become the worse for the effort. 

This resistance to temptation shows a Christian 
heart, displays its attachment to God, the protec- 
tion which He affords it, and is a source of conso- 
lation and confidence. This resolution to resist the 
inclination that solicits it, comes from the divine 
goodness, which furnishes it graces, all the more 
powerful in proportion to its danger. It is poor 
reasoning to say : if my mind and heart were in a 
good condition, and well with God, should I have 



116 



A TREATISE ON 



these thoughts and feelings so opposed to Faith, 
to submission, to patience, which cause me such 
horror ? 

If these thoughts and feelings depended on 
jour will, to have them, or not, you might, with 
some show of reason, deem yourself at enmity with 
God, when you recognize their presence. But 
it does not at all depend on yourself. These 
thoughts and feelings insinuate themselves silently, 
or violently possess themselves of your mind and 
heart, without consulting your will, and what is 
more, they endure in spite of your will, which 
would free itself of them, and uses every means 
for their expulsion. They are not. therefore, the 
result of your free will, they are not of your 
choosing, and they can decide nothing concerning 
the good state of your soul, or against its union 
with God and virtue. 

The heart becomes attached to an object only 
through deliberation and voluntary action. It can, 
therefore, belong to God, although it is exposed to 
involuntary feelings which are contrary to virtue, 
and which it condemns. I may say more; the 
pain which it feels, the horror which it conceives 
at being thus assailed, are a decisive proof that it 
is faithful to its duty and to divine love. If it 
loved God less, if it feared and hated sin less, it 
would not experience this pain and trouble, and 
horror, it would listen to its inclinations, and satisfy 
its desires. It cannot have any surer mark of its 



TEMPTATIONS. 



love for God, and the perseverance which He gives 
it in opposing its evil inclinations. 

The greatest Saints have been subjected to 
this trial; St. Paul was not exempt from it; and 
yet they loved God very much. Our divine Saviour, 
the Saint of Saints, suffered himself to be tempted 
for our instruction. That which He willed to bear 
in his sacred humanity, could be neither a sin, nor 
even an imperfection, for He was as incapable of 
the one, as of the other. We can not then be 
guilty when we suffer it as' He did, resisting it ac- 
cording to the measure of our strength. 



(II) apter 3. 

IN TEMPTATION RECOURSE MUST BE HAD TO GOD. HE SUSTAINS 
US IN THE COMBAT, ALTHOUGH WE DO NOT PERCEIVE IT. 

God sometimes sensibly guides the soul in these 
storms by which it is agitated. We then buffet 
courageously the impetuous flood of our passions. 

j The vivid sense of God's presence, the desire of 
loving Him which we feel, animate us, and inspire 
us with confidence. But sometimes He conceals 
Himself ; He seems to sleep, as He did in the bark 
of the disciples, when it was on the point of being 

- submerged in the raging sea. On such occasions, 



118 



A TREATISE ON 



the soul is endangered by the excessive fear which 
seizes and paralyzes the heart. 

And yet there is nothing to fear, if you will only 
lift your eyes to Heaven, from which succor must 
come, and if you make use of its assistance. 
When the disciples were in danger of perishing, 
they lost no time in useless lamentation ; they did 
not, in childish fear, give up all care of the ship ; 
they strove manfully with the storm, and turning 
to their Master, they implored His help. Jesus 
seemed asleep (Matt, viii, 2-i), and yet He direct- 
ed, without their being aware of it, the means 
which they employed to escape shipwreck. So too, 
God, concealed as He is from sight, is not the less 
attentive to what is passing in your heart. To you 
it seems that the next moment will bring the 
wreck, and yet you make head against the storm. 

The motives which inspire you, the feelings 
which animate you and prompt your actions almost 
without your perceiving it, the courage which, 
ever on the point of failing, is always reviving, the 
constancy with which you reject deceitful pleasures, 
the sinful pleasures offered by the enemy — from 
whom do they come? From yourself? Weak as 
you are, is this resistance yours alone ? Does it 
not come from Jesus Christ, who, without making 
Himself perceived, affords you His powerful sup- 
port, according to His word, that He would not 
"suffer you to be tempted above what ye are able. 17 
(I. Cor. x, 13.) Yes, when you think Him furthest 



TEMPTATIONS. 



119 



off, Jesus is in the midst of your heart. You 

think yourself forgotten, and you are, more than 
ever, present to His memory, because you are in 
need. He is present at your combats, as He was 
at that of St. Stephen (Acts viij 55). and provided 
you do not lose confidence, He will make you vic- 
torious over your enemies, by preserving you from 
coasenting to their wicked designs. 



(E I) a pter 4. 

HOW TO RECOGNIZE "WHETHER WE HAVE CONSENTED TO THE 
TEMPTATION. 

We have not much difficulty in seeing that tempta- 
tion is no evil, and that consent alone makes the 
sin. That which troubles and disquiets those 
whom God subjects to this painful trial, is the fear 
of offending God, and their ignorance of the prin- 
ciples by which they may reassure themselves, not 
being able to distinguish between temptation, and 
consenting to temptation. This uncertainty as to 
their consent, fills them with an anxiety which 
causes them great suffering, destroys their interior 
peace, and so weakens their confidence, as to pre- 
vent them from approaching God freely, and with 
confidence; and, in fine, throws them into an ex- 
- treme despondency, utterly prostrating their 



120 



A TREATISE ON 



strength. A few reflections would suffice to clear 
their doubts, and enable them to come to a right 
decision. 

"We have not a complete command over our 
mind and our heart. We can not wholly prevent 
the intrusions of certain thoughts and feelings. 
Sometimes indeed they take such forcible posses- 
sion of us, that we are led, without perceiving it, 
to pursue in spirit, the thought or design that thus 
presents itself. Our preoccupation is so great, that 
we hear and see nothing of what is passing around; 
we do not even remember how or when these 
thoughts or feelings commenced. Thus we often 
suddenly find ourselves, to our surprise, engaged in 
thoughts and feelings which are opposed to char- 
ity, or to other virtues, in projects of vanity, 
pride or self-love. 

This state continues a longer or shorter time, 
according to the strength of the imagination, or 
the sensible impression which occasioned it, or 
until some circumstance arises to awaken the soul 
from this apparent enchantment. TVe then perceive, 
by reflection, the nature of our thoughts. If in 
this moment of self-consciousness, we condemn the 
thought or feeling, if we disavow it and strive 
to reject it, we may safely say that in all that 
went before, we were not to blame. The satisfac- 
tion which we experience in being freed from it, 
is a fresh proof that our will had no part in our 
revery. 



TEMPTATIONS. 



121 



In this preoccupation there was no deliberation, 
no choice on the part of the will. In order to of- 
fend God, it is necessary that the will should de- 
liberately consent to something sinful, which it is 
free to reject. In the case we have supposed, there 
was neither freedom nor deliberation, hence, there 
could be no sin. Moreover, the promptness of their 
rejection, when consciousness returned, showed the 
good dispositions of the soul, and that it would not 
have admitted these thoughts and feelings, still less 
have dwelt on them, had reflection furnished the 
opportunity of accepting or rejecting them at will. 
We must then consider these temptations as begin- 
ning then only, when we became conscious of their 
presence. It is to this moment therefore, that our 
examination must be directed, and if we rejected 
them at that time, we may be at peace. 

This abstraction may continue for a long time, 
as often happens at prayer, where we are carried 
away by distractions, which entirely absorb the 
soul. This circumstance does not make it volun- 
tary or deliberate. It no more depends on our 
will to shorten the distraction, than it does to pre- 
vent it from coming at all ; there is no more choice 
in the one, than in the other. There will be no 
more sin either, for as the preoccupation which 
comes unforeseen is blameless, so the length of 
time in which it remains unperceived, can not make 
it culpable. There should be no difficulty, there 
fore, in deciding these cases. 



122 



A TREATISE ON 



QL I) a $ t z x 5 . 

ON SHORT AND PASSING TEMPTATIONS. 

Temptations are generally perceived at once, or 
soon after they present themselves, and may differ 
in kind. Sometimes they are thoughts or feelings, 
which arise suddenly, and as quickly pass away. 
In such a case, we are sometimes at a loss to de- 
termine whether it was merely a temptation, or 
whether there was not sin. Its duration was so 
short, that although we turned away from it, we are 
unable to decide whether it was quickly enough to 
prevent consent. 

In such circumstances, we may base our decision 
upon our ordinary sentiments and conduct. If we 
esteem, love and zealously practise the . virtues 
against which these temptations are directed ; if 
in our habitual disposition, we are free from any 
voluntary sin against these virtues ; if in longer 
and more sustained temptations of the kind, we 
have been victorious in the struggle, we may pru- 
dently judge that those fading thoughts and feel- 
ings were merely temptations, and not sins ; and 
that the rejection which banished them, had really 
forestalled consent. 

The reason is, that when we act contrary to our 
habitual disposition, we must use a certain violence, 
which we can not but perceive. If, then, we are 
habitually such as I have supposed, our consent to 



TEMPTATIONS. 



the temptation would not be a matter of ignorance, 
or of doubt. The impression which such a consent 
would have made, although but passing, would 
have caused itself to be felt. We may reassure 
ourselves then from the very fact that we are not 
certain of having yielded to the temptation. Our 
doubt itself proves that we may be certain, for had 
we really consented, we should not doubt. 

All those who prescribe rules for persons who 
are troubled by temptations, are unanimous in ad- 
vising them to despise these passing thoughts, and 
to pay as little attention to them as possible. The 
reason which they give, is the result of experience, 
which teaches us that if we neglect them, and 
pass them by in occupying ourselves with other 
things, they leave no impression, and return less 
frequently, or not at all ; but, on the contrary, that 
if we attack them violently, if we subject them to 
a strict examination, and especially if we allow 
them to frighten us/we are only recalling what is 
already gone, we stop them, and give them strength 
in the pause which we force them to make in our 
mind. That which, had we despised it, would 
have been but as a passing shadoV, or a fleeting 
gleam of lightning, becomes by the attention we 
give it, a devouring flame in our heart. It becomes 
an intrenched enemy, obstinate in the combat, and 
dangerous to the soul. 

Temptation is like a coward, who seeks to feel 
his adversary. If he meets with undisguised con- 



i 



124 



A TREATISE ON 



tempt, or firm resistance, "he does not push the 
quarrel, and retires. But if he encounters timid 
compromise or coward fear, he takes advantage of 
the weakness, attacks with violence, and obliges 
his enemy to submit to his terms. We must then 
allow all such temptations to pass lightly by, and 
reserve our attention for useful objects. If when 
these thoughts arise, we simply turn our heart to 
God, in some aspiration of love and piety, they will 
be unable to do us any harm. 



Chapter 6 . 

ON TEMPTATIONS WHICH ARE PERSISTENT AND TROUBLESOME, 
AND ON THOSE WHICH MAKE AN IMPRESSION ON OUR 
SENSES. 

Ordinarily, temptations are not so easily van- 
quished, and their attack is strong and continued. 
If they cease for a while, it is only to return to the 
charge. And as they agitate both mind and heart, 
a timid soul is a*pt to fear a sin, in feelings which 
we so frequently experience, and which seem to 
maintain a fixed dwelling in the bosom. The fear 
thus excited increases the feeling ; the agitation in 
which the soul finds itself, the failure of its efforts 
to overcome the trouble, give rise to a despondency 
more dangerous than the temptation itself, since it 



TEMPTATIONS. 



125 



takes away the strength which is required for suc- 
cessful resistance. 

Our conduct during the presence of the temp- 
tation, ma} T serve to determine whether we are de- 
serving of blame. And in the first place, to pre- 
vent ourselves from being overcome by doubts 
which are dangerous and unreasonable, we should 
return to the principles which we first established. 
The feeling, which is experienced in the moment 
of temptation, is not in itself a voluntary consent. 
It is only the bait with which the enemy hopes to 
gain the consent. He presents the object to the 
mind or fancy ; that is a thought. He renders it 
pleasing to the desires or passions; that is a feel- 
ing, which is the natural consequence of the re- 
presentation of the object. This feeling is more or 
less vivid according to the temperament of the 
individual, and the impression caused by the ob- 
ject. But all this is independent of the will, and 
precedes the consent. 

To produce the consent, it is necessary that the 
will should deliberately adhere to this feeling, that 
it should approve it, attach itself to it, and agree 
to it. An idea may dwell in the mind, a feeling 
may exist in the heart, without being adopted by 
the will. It is thus that we resist, or reject the 
inspirations of the good spirit, as well as those of 
the bad. This first thought then, or feeling, which 
only proposes an object to our will, no more con- 
stitutes a sin, than it does a virtue ; since these 



126 



A TREATISE ON 



consist in the choice which is made by the will, in 
finally attaching itself to either. 

If then the soul, in the time of temptation, had 
recourse to God for the grace, of which it stood in 
need ; if it renounced the feeling which was opposed 
to virtue, if it disapproved and rejected it, and ab- 
horred all that the temptation proposed ; if it 
sought to turn away the thought, by fixing the 
mind on some proper or useful object ; then, even 
though it can not answer with certainty for its 
fidelity during each instant of the continuance of 
the trial, it may safely judge that all that it ex- 
perienced, no matter how violent it appeared to be, 
or how long continued, was simply and merely a 
temptation, in which there was no fault. 

God does not permit the soul to be tempted be 
yond its strength, as the Holy Ghost teaches us : 
" God is faithful, who icill not suffer you to be 
tempted above what ye are able; but will even make 
with temptation an issue, that ye may be able to 
bear.' 1 (I. Cor. x, 13.) He is never wanting to the 
one who does all he can to avoid sin. And it is 
certain that when we employ the means which Ke- 
ligion and experience point out, we can not re- 
proach ourselves with negligence. We must then 
encourage the hope that He, who in His mercy 
gave us the fidelity to use the proper means, has 
also, according to .His promise preserved us from 
falling. This reasoning must silence the anxious 



TEMPTATIONS. 



127 



doubts and fears, which may arise, when God has 
caused the calm to succeed the storm. 

The temptation may be strong enough to excite 
bad impressions in our senses. They should not 
alarm us. What we have said of feelings or senti- 
ments, is equally applicable to impressions or sensa- 
tions. Sensible impressions do not depend on the 
will, which, not having the power to stop, or to 
banish them, is not responsible for their commence- 
ment, or their persistence. In such circumstances 
there is no sin, save in their approval or acceptance. 
So long as we regard them as the consequence of a 
temptation, which we combat and condemn, we do 
not approve them, and are not to blame. These 
impressions or sensations would only increase, were 
we to attend to them, and vainly strive to banish 
them. Since they are not sins, we must not allow 
them to trouble us. Our attention must be directed 
solely to driving away, from the mind and the 
heart, the temptation that causes them, and to 
guarding against the consent which it solicits. 



128 



A TREATISE ON 



(£l)ayt£t 7. 

ON TEMPTATIONS WHICH DISTURB US IN THE EXEECISE OP 
VIRTUES. WE MUST NOT ABANDON A GOOD WORK BECAUSE 
OF THE DEFECT, OR THE IMPERFECT MOTIVE WHICH ACCOM- 
PANIES IT. WE MUST RENOUNCE THE ONE, AND PESEVERRE IN 
THE OTHER. 

All these principles will serve to sustain and en- 
courage the soul in certain temptations which are 
experienced in the exercise of virtue. There are 
persons to whom the enemy does not dare to pro- 
pose the abandonment of those virtues which lead 
to perfection ; but he makes use of artifice to re- 
strain them, and to fix them in a mediocrity which 
degenerates into ne^li^ence. When not ensrao-ed 
in spiritual exercises, he leaves them alone, but no 
sooner do they apply themselves to these, than he 
fills their imagination with a thousand ideas that 
disturb them. 

In those who aspire to lead a life of perfec- 
tion, without being deterred therefrom, either by 
human respect, or by the fear of the sacrifices 
which it entails, he inspires a secret pride in the 
fulfillment of their duties. This thought insinu- 
ates itself into all their occupations. It seems to 
them, as though in everything they sought the 
vain esteem of men, or their own self-satisfaction. 

These temptations are so powerful in some, as 
to discourage, and altogether disconcert them. 



TEMPTATIONS. 



129 



Possessed with the idea, that on account of a want 
of purity of intention, all their sacrifice is without 
fruit and without reward, they prefer to resist the 
inspirations of heaven; they interrupt their exer- 
cises of piety, and lead a life filled with imperfec- 
tions, and with faults. Through a dread of the 
struggle in which they must engage, they omit the 
good works which God inspires, and thus in avoid- 
ing one snare, they fall into another. 

If the temptation arises from useless occupa- 
tions in which we engage, or from dangerous occa- 
sions not required by our state of life, there can be 
no doubt that we should abandon them in order to 
secure ourselves; but, on the other hand, it is 
equally certain that we must not, through fear of 
temptation, fail to perform our duty and follow the 
guidance of the spirit of God. Temptation is not 
of itself an evil, whereas it is surely an evil to be 
wanting in our duty, in that which God requires. 
If we allow ourselves to be influenced by this 
fear, and on that account abandon our exercises of 
piety, or the profit which attends a spirit of sacri- 
fice, we are wanting in fidelity to grace ; we deprive 
ourselves of that assistance which would enable us 
to advance in perfection, we place in the hand of 
our enemy a certain means of causing us to aban- 
don successively all that we are bound to perform. 
He will take advantage of this empire which he is 
allowed to acquire, of this fear which he has suc- 
ceeded in inspiring, and will lead us by degrees to 
9 



130 



A TREATISE ON 



the neglect of the practices of Religion, of the 
Sacraments, of all that nourishes piety. Will a 
soul in such a state, without strength, without 
courage, afraid to seek in prayer and mortification 
the means of support, be able to resist successfully 
the assault of its enemy? 

Let us not then fear such temptations, since 
as we have often said, the fault is not in them, 
but in our consenting to the evil which they pro- 
pose. Those which are more enduring, we must 
encounter with confidence, and love of God. 
Those which are but passing thoughts, no matter 
how frequent, we must despise and forget, renew- 
ing our intention of doing the will of God in all 
our actions. Then, such temptations will bring with 
them no imperfections ; they will even do us 
good, since they will cause a more frequent purify- 
ing of our intention. Thus shall good come from i 
evil, and from a snare designed for our destruction, 
we shall derive a means for our sanctification. 



TEMPTATIONS. 



131 



£ 1) a p t c x 8 . 

TEMPTATIONS NOT TO BE REASONED WITH. MEANS OP BANISH- 
ING THEM. 

There are certain passions which we can vanquish 
only by a direct attack ; that is, by a conduct the 
reverse of what they suggest. Those which form 
the leadinir points of an unsubdued nature, are 
of this number. They who are subject to vanity, 
anger, susceptibility, and to quick and strong pre- 
judices, can surmount these passions, only by prac- 
tising on occasion the virtues which are directly 
opposed to them. They must not be satisfied with 
renouncing the feelings which those passions in- 
spire, but they must mortify them by producing 
the opposite sentiments. If they seek only to 
avoid the occasions of their faults, they will not 
succeed in destroying the passion, and when they 
can no longer avoid the occasion, they will be al- 
most certain to fall. It is by practising humility ? 
meekness, by self-renunciation, and by attentions 
to those against whom we have a prejudice, that we 
give to those passions efficacious blows, to insure 
their defeat, and the complete victory of him who 
is faithful in resisting every attack. 

On the other hand, nothing is more damaging 
than the conduct of certain persons in the time of 
temptation. They believe that they are guilty of a 
fault in case they fail to exhaust themselves in 



132 



A TREATISE ON 



reasoning down the suggestions of the temptation. 
The} T enter into a discussion with the passion which 
attacks them, and which is never without a specious 
reason for its justification. They engage in a com- 
bat that is long and doubtful, and which need not 
have lasted a minute, if they had refused to argue 
with their wily enemy, or which, at least, would 
hove given them much less trouble to surmount. 
This is especially the case in temptations against 
Faith and Hope, or in sentiments opposed to Char- 
ity. They wish to assure themselves of their in- 
terior dispositions, by going directly against the 
temptation, and they only involve themselves in 
troublesome doubts and perplexities, and uselessly 
expose themselves to peril. 

So soon as we reason with the temptation, par- 
ticularly in difficult matters, or where difficulties 
are easily excited, and hard to answer for those who 
are not well informed in such matters, or in things 
which appeal to self-love, and which our natural 
malice approves, we are in the greatest danger of 
defeat. So it was, that Eve fell. 

Temptations that enter the soul through the 
senses, and which offer a satisfaction that is in 
conformity with nature, excite a very strong im- 
pression. That which we oppose to it, not being 
appreciable to the senses, nor affecting our nature, 
has a much less impression, unless indeed it be 
strengthened by a very vivid faith. In the midst 
of our trouble ; faith has frequently a difficulty in 



TEMPTATIONS. 



133 



making itself heard, and our resistance to the pas- 
sion becomes very weak. Besides, in this sort of 
defense, the attention we give to the temptation keeps 
it alive and makes it more felt, so that every instant 
it seems to us that we have yielded our consent to 
its suggestions, and we become so troubled and 
dismayed as to be unable afterward to give a satis- 
factory account of our conduct. 

In all such temptations, there is no surer way 
of defending ourselves, than simply to banish the 
thought by occupying our minds with some pious 
sentiment. If thoughts can intrude themselves 
without the consent of the will, the latter, on the 
other hand, can indirectly expel them, by obliging 
the mind to occupy itself with other objects. Nor 
is it necessary to select for this purpose, such as 
are opposed to the temptation which assails us, it 
being sufficient to disavow, or reject it by enter- 
taining any thought or any act of virtue which 
may distract our attention, selecting in preference 
those which are to. us most familiar, or most stri- 
king. 

Some, easily moved by the sufferings of the 
God become man for our sake, place themselves at 
the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ, who by the 
slcrifice of his life expiated our sins ; there they 
conceive a new sorrow for their faults and omis- 
sions, and a new horror for whatever might crucify 
again in their hearts, their dear Lord and Master. 
Others, in imagination, fly for refuge within the 



134 



A TREATISE ON 



Sacred Heart of Jesus, imploring His merc^ and 
protection, and by penetrating into His goodness 
and compassion for them, excite within themselves 
a gratitude, and a confidence which insure their 
fidelity. These, moved especially by the love dis- 
played by Jesus in giving Himself to them in the 
Holy Eucharist, make use of the sentiments in- 
spired by His infinite mercy, to withdraw their 
heart from everything that might offend so good a 
Lord. Those, imagining themselves at the moment 
in which they will be called upon to render an ac- 
count to God, dwell upon the thought of Heaven and 
Hell. They ask themselves, Mlf 1 were just about to 
appear before the tribunal of Jesus Christ, how 
should I then wish to have acted ?" Occupying 
themselves earnestly with these objects, so interest- 
ing to the Christian, and so capable of withdrawing 
man from sin, penetrated with truths, at once so 
touching, so striking, their heart becomes insensible 
to the temptation, and their mind ceases to entertain 
the thought. 

There are few temptations which can persist 
long in the soul that, refusing to listen to, or dis- 
cuss the imaginary reasons of passion, and ani- 
mated by a lively confidence, turns to God in loving 
trust, and implores His help through the interces- 
sion of the Blessed Virgin. This exercise of love 
for God, during the continuance of the temptation, 
is the best safeguard of the heart. It can never be 
overcome^ so long as it sustains this sentiment. 



TEMPTATIONS. 



135 



To render it stronger and more enduring, the mind 
should recall the motives that are apt to nourish 
and increase it ; the enemy will soon retire in con- 
fusion. A renewal of the attack should be met 
with the same defense. 

It is desirable next to banish entirely from the 
mind and heart, the ideas and feelings which beget 
the danger. We shall do it most readily and surely 
by engaging ourselves" in some other thoughts or 
occupations. Indeed there are occasions, especially 
when the temptation is unusually strong and ob- 
stinate, where it is desirable to take up some enter- 
taining author, to engage in some bodily exercise, 
or to occupy ourselves earnestly in business, or the 
discharge of our household duties. Such occupa- 
tions fix the" attention and free the mind from the 
seductive pictures of the imagination. When 
peace and calm have returned, the mind and heart 
will be more at liberty to think of God, and to at- 
tach themselves to Him more closely. 

A capital point in these combats, is the not al- 
lowing ourselves to be troubled, or to relax our 
confidence, and especially to resist the very first 
attack. When we are disturbed by fear, we know 
not where to turn for assistance, being in a manner 
struck with blindness. We do not think of seek- 
ing assistance ; the heart knows not on what to re- 
solve, since the intellect presents nothing to prompt 
its action. We may verify this in our daily ex- 
perience, as well in temporal, as in spiritual things. 



136 A TREATISE ON 

# 

How often have we not beheld a man in sudden 

danger, palsied by fear, lose his presence of mind ; 
in vain is a help tendered to him, he can not see it; 
he has safety at hand, and in seeking it, he turns 
his back upon it. 

Show a bold front to the enemy, and you can 
then take surer measures to parry his blows, you 
will more readily perceive the means of conquering, 
and being more at ease, you will employ them with 
greater confidence. And, once more, what cause is 
there for fear? The devil can indeed surest the 
most horrible sins, but can he oblige you to consent 
to them? That depends on your will, not on his. 
Vv T hy then be frightened at a result which lies com- 
pletely at your own disposal ? Why fear a consent, 
which with the assured assistance of grace, you can 
certainly refuse ? Stand firm, and you have noth- 
ing to fear from an enemy, who can only conquer 
by your permission. 

This courage will spring from your confidence 
in God, which you must be careful to sustain. 
When one is discouraged in temptation, he is 
already half overcome. His efforts are feeble, be- 
cause unsupported by those graces which confidence 
attracts. How should they be granted when, 
through fear, there is no thought of imploring 
them ? He no longer considers the goodness and 
power of a God who is able and willing to defend 
His child. And yet were he to ask with trusting 
faith, that power and goodness would be soon made 



TEMPTATIONS. 



137 



manifest. The confidence of the royal psalmist- 
should be his : " I will call upon the Lord] and 1 
shall be saved from my enemies" (Ps. xvii, 4.) 

' : But/' you may say, u how often have I not 
experienced my weakness in this temptation?" 
Yes, because you have always been wanting in con- 
fidence. Be firm then, and you will never fall. 
St. Peter walking on the waters at the com- 
mand of .lesus Christ, began to sink, so soon 
as he commenced to doubt ; he was saved only 
by a return to confidence, which gained for him 
the protection of his divine Master. • 

In temptations, especially in those which are 
generally violent, be on your guard at the first at- 
tack, and try to repress its first motions. If by a 
feeble defense, you allow the imagination to become 
excited, and the heart to be occupied, your negli- 
gence will serve to increase your weakness. A 
passion that is trifled with, soon gains the upper 
hand. It was only a spark, easily extinguished, it 
becomes a flame which consumes all the faculties 
of the soul. This advice is the more necessary in 
those temptations which are increased in violence, 
by the impression which they make on the senses. 
A special mercy is then required, to preserve us 
unharmed amidst the flames. Diligence in meeting 
the danger, would either have preserved you from 
the temptation, or would have assured you the 
protection of God, whereby you would have es- 
caped without wound. 



138 



A TREATISE ON 



When anything occurs that is strange to our 
experience, we should at once consult our Confessor, 
&nd make known to him the new temptation. He 
will teach us what means we must employ to resist 
and banish the adversary. This act of humility 
and Christian simplicity draws down special graces 
from Heaven. Our Lord takes a special interest 
in the troubles of those who, according to the 
order of divine Providence, seek to walk in the 
paths of obedience. It often happens that such 
temptations never attack us a second time, when 
revealed at once to the Minister of God. If we 
conceal them in the hope that they will disappear, 
they gain time to fortify themselves, and become 
more difficult to overcome. 



(Chapter Q . 

ON FREQUENT TEMPTATIONS. " IN TIME OF PEACE, PREPARE FOR 
WAR." 

When we are subject to frequent temptations, we 
must employ the intervals of attack, in preparing 
ourselves, and in gathering strength to resist. He 
who would make himself ready, only when assailed, 
is easily surprised, and readily defeated. " In 
time of peace, prepare for war," is a well-known 
maxim. We should not neglect its warning in our 



TEMPTATIONS. 



139 



spiritual combats, where defeat is so much more 
important than in temporal affairs, since thereby 
7ze are deprived of an eternal kingdom. 

This preparation consists in leading a life of re- 
collection. When we are leading a gay and dis- 
tracted life, we do not pay proper attention to 
what is passing in our heart. Temptations advance 
very far before we find ourselves roused to a sense 
of danger. The mind being occupied with light 
and trifling things, finds a difficulty in reflecting 
seriously on the motives which Religion offers, to 
counteract the solicitations of passion. But in in- 
terior recollection, occupied with God and holy 
things, we see the enemy from afar; we use the 
proper precautions, and we find in our habitual- 
thoughts and feelings, sufficient weapons for a suc- 
cessful defense. The mind occupied with the 
truths of faith, the heart habitually attached to 
virtue, are not so easily shaken by the false allure- 
ments of passion. The torch of Faith reveals the 
depth of the precipice to which the temptation 
leads, and filled with horror, we withdraw from the 
slippery descent. Assiduous prayer, the invocation 
of the Saints, and particularly of the Mother of 
God, open to us the treasures of Heaven, and pro- 
cure *for us those chosen graces which the dissi- 
pated soul does not even think of asking. 

If ^iis recollected life be accompanied by ^sl 
frequent and careful frequentation of the Sacra- 
ments, we shall be still more secure. And even 



140 



A TREATISE ON 



though we sometimes yield to temptation, we 
should not therefore withdraw from the Sacra- 
ments, but on the contrary, approach them more 
frequently. The Sacrament of penance was estab- 
lished not only for the remission of actual sins, but 
also for conferring graces which may withhold us 
from others that we might commit, and fortify 
us against the passions which lead us into sin. 

In abstaining from the Sacraments then, we de- 
prive ourselves of these graces, and diminish our 
capacity for resistance. The more frequently we 
approach the Sacrament of penance, the greater is 
the horror which we conceive for sin. This horror, 
frequently renewed, becomes more rooted in the 
soul, more vivid in its effects, and fortifies, it more 
powerfully in the moment of danger. Moreover, 
all the Theologians unite in saying, that when a 
person, who is very much inclined to mortal sin, has 
had the misfortune to fall, he should lose no time 
in being reconciled, since, being separated from 
God, and deprived of sanctifying grace, he remains 
in the greatest danger of committing the sin again, 
on a recurrence of the temptation. It is therefore 
very prejudicial to delay having recourse to the 
Sacrament of penance, and still more so to abandon 
it altogether, or for a time. 

The Holy Communion, when we approach it 
after suitable preparation, is also a very powerful 
aid against temptation. We there receive Jesus 
Christ, the Saviour of souls. After having given 



TEMPTATIONS. 



141 



Himself to us, can we believe th*at He will refuse 
the graces which are necessary to preserve us in 
union with Him? If He enters our heart, is it not 
that He may confirm it in virtue ? The Holy 
Council of Trent, speaking of the Holy Eucharist, 
says : u -Jesus Christ desired that this Sacrament 
should be received as the spiritual food of our souls, 
that it should nourish and strengthen them, . . . and 
should be an antidote, by which we should be deliv- 
ered from our daily faults and preserved from 
mortal sin." (Sess. xiii, c. 2.) If there be any 
time in which we have pressing need of help, to 
confirm us in virtue, to strengthen us against the 
enemy of salvation, to preserve us from mortal sin, 
it is certainly then, when we are the object of fre- 
'quent temptations. The celestial food, the power- 
ful antidote are never more needed. To deprive 
ourselves voluntarily of that assistance, provided 
for such emergencies, would be to court peril, and 
tempt our weakness. Besides, when preparing 
ourselves for the Blessed Sacrament, we are ab- 
sorbed in the thoughts suggested by the great 
event; our heart, occupied by the sentiments of 
piety which it strives to excite, recoils from tempta- 
tion, and is attentive to exclude everything that 
may diminish the graces which it solicits. But of 
this point the Confessor is the proper judge; it is 
for him to prescribe what is to be done, lest in 
this we should be guided by illusions. 

T(? all these safeguards against the temptations 



142 



A TREATISE ON 



to which we are exposed, we may add the exercise 
of penance. It obtains new graces ; it humbles 
the spirit ; it deadens the passions ; it expiates our 
sins, our faults and negligences ; it excites our fer- 
vor, and redoubles our vigilance. In this, how- 
ever, there is need of discretion and judgment. 
We must not carry our mortification too far, for 
then it would be an excess, and prejudicial to our 
health, which Christian prudence commands us to 
preserve. The practice of mortification is bene- 
ficial against nearly all the passions ; but there are 
temptations in which it may be hurtful to some 
persons, according to their character and tempera- 
ment. To such, mortification must be forbidden; 
and they must do nothing of the kind, save by 
counsel and permission. 9 



QlljapUr 10. 

THE UTILITY OP TEMPTATIONS. 

If temptations render us so unhappy, it is because 
we do not look upon them from the right point of 
view. We consider only the danger to which we 
are exposed, the evil to which we are drawn ; we 
lose sight of the advantages which they confer; 
of the spiritual benefit which they can procure. 



TEMPTATIONS. 



143 



This ignorance, or this want of reflection, accounts 
for the little profit which we derive from these 
trials. The following considerations will serve to 
make us bear them more patiently, and will give us 
greater facility in overcoming them. 

Temptations may be made to lead a Christian 
heart to the practice of the most solid virtues, and 
to the acquisition of great merits in Heaven. It is 
a great consolation to think that we can derive 
great advantages from the very enemies that assail 
us, and make them contribute to our happiness. 
Surely this thought should animate us in the hour 
of combat. It is the motive proposed to us by the 
Apostle St. James : ?' Esteem it my brethren all jmj, 
when ye shall fall into various trial®" (Ep. i, c. 2) 
and he at once assigns the reason, u knowing that 
the trying of your faith, icorketh patienec" and pa- 
tience, he adds, worketh perfection. 

Man does not sufficiently reflect upon himself; 
he does not know himself; he avoids self-examina- 
tion, lest perchance he should recognize faults which 
would cause him to blush. All his attention is en- 
gaged in endeavoring to excuse his sins to himself, 
and to exaggerate his good qualities. From this 
foolish conduct spring that self-love so delicate, so 
sensitive, so touchy; that self-esteem, that presump- 
tion, which exposes him to so many dangers; that 
vanity, that preference which he gives himself over 
others. Pride, the source of all evils, blinds him 
to his defects, to his falls, and to his weakness. 



144 



A TREATISE ON 



Even pious persons are not exempt from this self- 
complacency, this gloating on one's virtues, this 
hunger for esteem, which are so natural to man. It 
is a secret spring of pride and vanity, which exalts 
them in their own eyes, puffs them up with satisfac- 
tion, leads them to rely on their own strength, and 
keeps them in a rash and dangerous feeling of se- 
curity. It is a subtle poison that- infects actions 
which are, in appearance, most holy. 

Temptations are a sovereign remedy against this 
dangerous evil, and its pernicious consequences. 
They reveal to man the interior of his own heart; 
they show him what he is, when left to himself ; 
they tear away all concealment, and all disguise. 
By the light of their gloomy torch, he sees his 
misery, his weakness, his corruption. Attacked 
alternately by the different passions, by envy, 
jealousy, hatred, vengeance, and by others, lower 
yet and more degrading, he sees in his heart the 
germs of all those disorders into which others have 
fallen, and he is at last persuaded that his nature 
is not superior to theirs. 

The first effect produced in us by such a sight, 
is to inspire a humility proportioned to the misery 
which is thereby made known, where there is sub- 
ject only for humiliation and contempt. The com- 
placency which we might feel at the sight of cer- 
tain good qualities which we possess, is soon low- 
ered by that crqwd of evil inclinations against 
which we must wage unceasing warfare. We see 



TEMPTATIONS. 



145 



ourselves such as we should appear to men, were 
our heart with all its passions unveiled to their 
contemplation. We feel for ourselves a Christian 
contempt, humility before God, and, at least, equal- 
ity with other men. 

What advantages could we not derive from this 
self-knowledge, accompanied by the spirit of relig- 
ion ? Are we suffering — submissive to the de- 
signs of Providence, we acknowledge that God is 
lenient towards us, and does not treat us as the 
corruption of our heart deserves ? Are we happy 
and consoled — we adore the goodness of God who 
is so indulgent to His unworthy creature. The 
contrast of our unworthiness, and the divine 
goodness, excites the most lively gratitude and in- 
spires a more perfect love. With the conviction 
that we are unworthy of the benefits which we re- 
ceive at His hands, and which flow from His infin- 
ite mercy, we strive to deepen still more our 
humility, that virtue at once so necessary, and the 
mother of so many other virtues. 

One to whom temptations have revealed all the 
corruption of his heart, experiences, alone with 
God, the same confusion which he would suffer be- 
fore men to whom it should be known. It is a 
-alutary confusion which should be preserved. 
Hereafter, guided by the spirit of religion, he will 
not be irritated by the conduct of others, rough 
disagreeable though it be. The light of Faith 
' shows him that he merits even more contempt than 

10 



146 



A TREATISE ON 



he receives, and if he does rot meet with more, it 
is because he is not thoroughly known to others, or 
their charity blinds thern to that which they might 
otherwise perceive. Is anything more needed to 
destroy forever his self-complacency and esteem ! 



0E1) aptcr 11. 

THE SUBJECT CONTINUED. ONE WHO IS SUBJECT TO TEMPTA- 
TIONS AND DESIROUS OF SAVING HIS SOUL, ATTACHES HIM- 
SELF THE MORE CLOSELY TO GOD, AND EXERCISES THE 
GREATER VIGILANCE. 

The knowledge which temptations give of the in- 
terior, produces another effect which rightly fol- 
lowed up, leads to perfection. One who is subject 
to temptations, and yet desirous of being saved, 
attaches himself more closely to God, and is excited 
to greater vigilance over himself, two great means , 
of advancing rapidly in the path of sanctity. 

He sees in his heart a number of enemies, he 
knows his own weakness; and although he feels that 
with ordinary grace, he has sufficient resolution to 
overcome some, yet against others to which he is 
more violently drawn, and in certain occasions of 
greater peril — he is convinced from his own weak- 
ness, from a sorrowful experience, and from a 
knowledge of the principles of his religion, that 



TEMPTATIONS. 



147 



without special graces, he will not- have the cour- 
age to resist successfully. Knowing these things, 
and alarmed at the unequal struggle, what is he to 
do ? He must seek help powerful enough to sus- 
tain him against his enemies, and particularly 
against those whom he most fears. Faith teaches 
him that this assistance is to he found only in God, 
and that to obtain it, he has only to implore it fer- 
vently and perseveringly. To Him then does he 
turn with entire confidence. 

At the first movement of the temptation, he 
says with the Psalmist, " / have lifted up my eyes to 
the mountains, from ichence help shall come to mej' 
(Ps. cxx, 1) he solicits it by his prayers ; he 
attracts it by his desires ; all the aspirations of his 
heart are eloquent to obtain it. The more the 
temptation presses him, the more he attaches him- 
self to God. He is like a child walking along the 
margin of fearful precipices, or surrounded by 
ferocious beasts of prey, he clings to his father for 
protection, whenever the path grows slippery and 

I dangerous, or when the fierce growl, or the fiery 

1 eye warns him of mortal peril. 

Under the protection of God, like the Royal 
Prophet, he ceases to fear enemies who are power- 

j less against a strong faith pointing to eternal happi- 
ness, and a firm hope which gains those especial 
E*i\ as pr<Wised to implicit confidence. He no 
- longer 6 ards the enemy whom he had thought 

M weir nigh invincible ; he despises him, or attacks 

j 



148 



A TREATISE ON 



him with confidence, and in such dispositions he 
meets with an easy victory. This grace frequently 
renewed, teaches him all the more the extent of 
God's goodness and mercy in his regard, and in re- 
turn his love grows fervent and strong. Tempta- 
tions, then, properly understood, and met according 
to the spirit of Eeligion, attach us more closely to 
God by the great virtues of Faith, Hope and Char- 
ity, of which they oblige us to the frequent exer- 
cise. 

On the other hand, the conviction of our weak- 
ness inevitably excites us to greater vigilance. A 
weak man is a timid man — timid in proportion to 
his weakness. That weakness makes him very 
careful not to make to himself enemies, and to 
avoid the anger of those whom he has already 
made. He is attentive to his own behavior, and 
weighs every word. Doubtful of his own strength, 
he seeks to attack no one. This conduct is but a 
figure of the precaution which a Christian should 
take. He avoids with care whatever may excite 
the temptations to which he is subject, whatever 
may give rise to new and untried dangers. He 
knows who it is that says, u He that loveth danger 
shall perish in it." (EcCLE. iii, 27.) In the fear 
of being left to his own weakness, by rendering 
himself, through presumption, unworthy of th^ 
assistance of heaven, he is all attention to v ' e £it 
passes in his mind and heart, lest seme enemy 
should creep in, or lest those already there con- 



TEMPTATIONS. 



149 



cealed, taking advantage of his negligence, should 
take -him by surprise, gain him with the poisoned 
sweetness of passion, and force him to the preci- 
pice. 

Vigilance is the more necessary, because the 
temptation is not unfrequently disguised. It uses 
stratagem, it alleges false pretexts, it takes upon 
itself the appearance of virtue, so as to draw the 
soui quietly to the fatal trap. Passion often con- 
ceals itself, lest it should be recognized. It will 
insinuate itself insensibly into the heart, and dis- 
guise itself, so as to enter unperceived. He who is 
inatrentive to its approach, gives it time to fortify 
itself, or fails to erect a barrier strong enough to 
resist its attack. On the contrary, he who is ex- 
ercised in the spiritual warfare, and aware of the 
danger of new temptations, or of giving the slight- 
est way to the old, is always on the alert to detect 
the slightest movement of his hearj:. He examines 
the nature of his feelings, and no sooner does he 
perceive the enemy than he challenges him, and 
stands to his own defense. 

And this vigilance is an assured bulwark against 
temptations, whether from without, or from within. 
With it, there can be no surprise, and the enemy 
finds the garrison prepared at all points. 

In time of peace and calm, precaution is re- 
garded as superfluous. But in time of war, or in 
the midst of the tempest, we must be vigilant, to 
escape shipwreck or defeat. And so it is that fre- 



150 



A TREATISE ON 



quency of temptation begets vigilance, and vigil- 
ance causes a stricter union with God, and from this 
union springs docility to the inspirations of the 
Holy Ghost, and docility leads us in the path of 
perfection. 



(Chapter 12. 

THE GOOD EFFECTS OF TEMPTATION IN NEGLIGENT SOULS. 

Temptations which seemed destined to be the 
certain ruin of negligent souls, have not unfre- 
quently been a Heaven-provided means of rescuing 
them from the tepidity in which they Jived, and of 
leading them to the fervent practice of virtue. 
There are persons who live a life of languishing 
piety. No marked disorder is visible in their 
general conduct, but neither is there any endeavor 
after perfection. If they do not commit any of 
those mortal offenses which cut us off from God, 
neither do they do any great good, through their 
indifference to the mortification of the senses, 
their indulgence of every feeling and inclination 
not manifestly sinful, and their habitual disregard 
of the persistent principle of faith. Their lives 
having so little of the supernatural, are but indif- 
ferently meritorious in the sight of God. They 
are vessels becalmed on their voyage to Heaven. 



TEMPTATIONS. 



"Well, God sends a storm to break the idle calm. 
Temptation comes to awake slumbering piety, and 
God enlightening them as to their state, draws 
' them kindly to him by his grace. They see 
themselves on the eve of perils from which they 
shrink affrighted. They find themselves beset by 
enemies alternately employing charms and fears, to 
seduce, or to intimidate. Religion then makes 
herself known in all her strength. Alarmed at 
the danger, they have .recourse to God, in whom 
alone they can have confidence of a favorable issue 
to the combat. If the assaults are renewed, they 
think seriously and resolutely of employing all the 
means which faith can offer, to escape the impend- 
iog ruin. 

Henceforth, earnest in prayer, by which they 
hope to obtain the required strength j united with 
God, to whom a lively sense of danger has recalled 
them ; watchful over themselves, so as not to fall 
into the snares prepared for them ; they act only 
from motives of piety, and live in the continual 
exercise of virtue. All that they desire, all they 
do, is offered up as an act of homage to God. The 
more they are assailed by temptations, the more 
firmly do they determine to continue in the path 
which alone conducts to a place of safety. From 
a life of tepidity, they enter on a life of fervor, in 
which every moment is consecrated to God. 

This change necessarily takes place in us, if we 
are faithful to grace. For, attacked by temptations, 



152 



A TREATISE ON 



seeing our salvation at stake, and wishing to avoid 
a loss which is irreparable, however slightly we 
may reason from the principles of faith, we cannot 
but recognize that it would be presumption, and a 
very sinful presumption, to expect a victory from 
the hands of God, which we take no steps to in- 
sure. To live a tepid and dissipated life, to omit, 
or negligently to perform our accustomed exercises 
of piety : to approach the Sacraments rarely and 
with but little preparation; to be careless about the 
commission of venial sins, and yet to expect from 
the mercy of God the grace to resist our passions, 
is only to tempt Him, to render ourselves unworthy 
of His assistance, to deserve that we should be 
abandoned to our own weakness, and become the 
slave of sin. 

With such dispositions, a tepid and negligent 
soul cannot be said, with justice, really to intend 
resistance ; for to wish the end whilst we reject the 
means, is not to wish at all. God must then say 
as he said to His chosen people : tt Destruction is 
thy qwUj 0 Israel] thy kelp is only in me." (Oseas, 
xiii, 9.) It is not of such that I treat, but rather 
of those who, in spite of their tepidity, fear sin, 
and love God enough, to shrink from a mortal 
offense, and to adopt the means which are necessary 
for their preservation. To such souls temptations 
are very useful, arousing them from their sloth, and 
exciting their fervor. 



TEMPTATIONS. 



153 



Those who treat of the spiritual life, teach us 
that God sometimes permits a tepid soul to fall 
into some grievous fault, in order to rouse it from 
its lethargy, by the remorse which follows sin. 



Chapter 13. 

THE TIME SPENT IN OVERCOMING TEMPTATION, IS NOT TIME 
LOST. 

Some persons much subject to temptations, lament 
the time which they spend in resisting them. I 
can not, they say, preserve recollection. When I 
try to meditate, to recite some prayers, to spend 
some few moments in the presence of the Blessed 
Sacrament, I can not fix my mind on God. That 
is the very time that temptations come to assail me ; 
and I pass it in a vain endeavor to banish them. I 
meet these troublesome and obstinate visitors even 
at the Holy Table, when I go to receive my Lord, 
and my God. What profit can I expect from pious 
exercises performed in such a manner ? 

This thought brings great discouragement. To 
cure this, to reassure and console such persons, it is 
important to recall to them the principles by which 
to correct their error, and the advantages of such 
a state when borne as it should be. 

It is a maxim universally acknowledged, that 



A TREATISE ON 



we are not called to serve God according to our own 
feelings and inclinations, but in the way which He 
requires, and according to His good will. God at- 
taches His graces and rewards, not precisely to the 
good works which we prescribe for ourselves, but 
to those which He authorizes and enjoins. It is on 
this principle that is based the decision, that if 
obedience prescribes an employment which keeps 
us from prayer or meditation, by performing the 
action in a spirit of recollection, we please God 
just as much, as if we had spent the time in com- 
munion with Him. And if we were to omit the 
action for the sake of praying or meditating, we 
should not be serving God as He requires, we should 
offend, instead of serving Him. This principle 
should suffice to convince you that you do not lose 
the time which you pass in resisting temptations, 
that occur during your exercises of piety. The 
devil has no more power over men than God allows 
to him. It was only by an express permission that 
he was enabled to subject the patient Job to so 
many trials and temptations. God then permits 
this state in which you find yourself ; and as dis- 
tractions are a species of temptation, you must ap- 
' ply to them what I have just been saying. 

How then does God wish that you should serve 
Him? Js it by a sustained and uninterrupted 
meditation on holy things *? Is it by tender collo- 
quies with Himself, which no earthly affection shall 
be allowed to disturb? Not so ; He wishes you to 



TEMPTATIONS. 



155 



serve Him by a faithful and persevering resistance 
to all the inspirations of the enemy, by which He 
strives to seduce and separate you from the divine 
love ; that, like the Jews rebuilding the walls of 
Jerusalem, one hand should grasp the sword of de- 
fensive warfare, whilst the other labors to erect the 
spiritual edifice of perfection in a sentiment of 
lively faith and unshaken hope ; a hope, I mean, 
unshaken in your will, however it may seem to 
waver in your imagination. Has such been your 
fidelity? Then you have done the will of God; 
you have honored Him as He required ; you have 
put Him above everything else ; you have in your 
submission, and patience, and fidelity in resisting 
temptation, been as pleasing to Him as though you 
had been occupied in an ecstacy of fervent prayer, 
distinguished by the most affectionate sentiments. 

I ask you, how can that time be lost, which is 
spent in conformity to the will of God, and in the 
exhibition of an attachment to Him so marked and 
solid? Alter such an exercise, in which you have 
courageously resisted all the attacks of your ene- 
mies, you should be as well satisfied, as if you had 
performed it in the greatest recollection and tran- 
quillity. It had less savor and sweetness, but the 
fruit was all the richer. You have done the will 
of God, and He will acknowledge it, in the graces 
with which He will enrich your soul. The accom- 
plishment of that will was painful; the pain will 
not be forgotten in the recompense. The Holy 



156 



A TREATISE ON 



Ghost assures us by the mouth of the Jif 
*' God is not unjust, to forget your work, and the 
love which ye have shown in His name." (Heb. 
vi, 10.) 

The time, therefore, so employed, is not lost, 
not only because we render God the honor and 
•service which He asks at our hands, and in the 
very way He asks it ; but, also, because in these 
combats we acquire merits which are being multi- 
plied in every minute. Persecutions that increased 
the sufferings of the Martyrs, enriched their crown 
of triumph ; temptations are a persecution that has 
the same effect in a faithful soul. 

The Holy Ghost declares him blessed, who 
" could have transgressed, and hath not transgressed; 
who could do evil things, and hath not done them." 
(Eccli. xxxi, 10.) His happiness is proportioned 
to the merit which he amassed by his perseverance. 
On this principle, when you observe the law of 
God, and do His will in a way that is displeasing 
to nature, you acquire a double claim to reward: 
first, you have obeyed, and secondly, you have 
obeyed with difficulty, and against resistance and 
combat. The sacrifice which you have made of the 
natural inclination which solicited and impelled 
you, is rewarded here by new graces, and hereafter 
by an increase of eternal glory and happiness. 

Following up this reasoning, what an immense 
treasure of merit that person accumulates, who 
assailed by all kinds of temptations is steadfast in 



TEMPTATIONS. 157 

. > i #: » 

t'i? '"'.^ to God! He is certain that every sacri- 
fice was noted, every one bad its merit, every one 
shall have its recompense. On each several occa- 
sion that he resisted temptation, it could be said of 
him, " blessed is he, for he could have transgressed, 
and hath not transgressed ; he could do evil things, 
and hath not done them" And what a vast num- 
ber of sacrifices is made by that one, who often 
drawn and urged by passion, constantly resists its 
seductions, and refuses the object which it presents 
to his concupiscence. Few moments pass un- 
marked by victory. The repeated and varied as- 
saults of the enemy only serve to swell the number 
of victims, which the faithful warrior immolates to 
God. What a treasure of merits in these hand-to- 
hand struggles with passion! We do not ourselves 
perceive every sacrifice which we make, but the all- 
seeing eye of God does not suffer one to escape. 
Is anything more needed to console us in this 
state, and to encourage us to perseverance? If 
the contest is severe, the "crown is brilliant j one 
minute of pain, and an eternity of glory! And 
who would wish to exchange eternal glory, for a 
minute's gratification? 

Nor is the merit restricted to these repeated 
sacrifices, new treasures are found in the interior 
virtues practised at such a time. We very well 
feel that we can not maintain successful resistance 
without the aid of Heaven, without the light, and 
the motives of faith, the inspirations of hope, and 



158 A TREATISE ON TEMPT.' -J" 

the support of divine charity. Our hean is uau- 
pied in a continual exercise of prayer, and in 
forming repeated acts of these exalted virtues/ 
If one sole act of divine charity, is so powerful as 
to reconcile a sinner with God, how much merit 
does he not acquire who in his combats is constantly 
repeating this act! 

What ignorance, then, to suppose that time so 
employed in resisting temptation, is lost for 
heaven and perfection, when it is evident from 
what has been said, that • Q the contrary we are 
laboring most actively to practise the one, and gain 
the other. • 



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